Making Time

I woke up early this morning and couldn’t go back to sleep so I decided to get out of bed.

As I sat in the living room and slowly sipped my morning coffee, I looked out the window and marveled at the stillness of nature in the overcast morning light. Everything was so peaceful.

When I finished the contents of my cup I continued to just sit there and look outside. It was still early. I had time.

Or did I?

All at once, I could think of so many things that I had to do:

This quiet time would be optimum for me to concentrate on something that I’ve been putting off for lack of space to really think and create.

There were toys on the floor from last night that should have been packed away before bedtime.

I thought about how I’d been meaning to start gentle exercise in the early mornings in order to kickstart my day. This was my chance.

There is a bread recipe that I want to try, perhaps I would start kneading the dough now so that we could have fresh bread with breakfast.

And then, in an instant, I decided that I would not get up from the couch yet…because once I got up, I would likely be on my feet for the better part of the day. I therefore decided to sit there a little longer. I had time.

Or did I?

Within moments, I found myself reaching for my phone to check my email. Thankfully, I caught myself and stopped.

Why did I feel the need to fill every moment of my day with something that had to be done?

Yes, I could think of ways to fill these few quiet moments, but did I really need to?

And moreso…what if I looked at spending quiet time just being with myself as something important – as something that also needed to be done?

Because it is something that needs to be done.

I often say that silence is my self-love language.
In silence I breathe deeply and my depleted reserves are restored.
In silence I connect with myself and check in with how I’m really feeling.
In silence I honour my need for moments of stillness and allow my busy mind to rest a little while.

Silence speaks.
It tells me I don’t have to rush.
It tells me there is always time.
It tells me that I am enough, just as I am, regardless of what I do or leave undone.

And so, I just sat there and I looked outside.
I breathed.
I connected.
I rested a little while.

I was reminded that sitting in silence isn’t a waste of time; it slows time.

If we wait until we have time, it will never happen. We have to make time. There will always be something to do. But we need to create time to be.

Time to be silent.
Time to be still.
Time to be at rest.

And that’s just what I did this morning.

I stopped debating whether or not I had time.

And I made time.