The Importance of Gifting Free Time

Let's face it, life is often incredibly busy. Our 'to do" list is quite long, complicated and exhausting. And it feels like almost everyday something unexpected gets added to it. We are scheduled in from the moment our eyes open until we drag our tired body off to bed at night. Often, we become so accustomed to this way of being that we forget the beauty and necessity of free time.

But is this really the life we want to be living? There was a recent study done, not a terribly scientific one, but certainly real, in which a hospice nurse reported on the many things that people said as they faced their last days. The common thread was that they wish they had made more time....more time for family, for play, for relaxation, for themselves.

In the end I doubt I will be reflecting with great pride on how much of my "to do" list in life I accomplished. In the end I doubt others will remember how great I managed my hectic schedule. No, but they will instead remember the camping trips, the long walks, the belly laughter, the shedding of shared tears and the holding of hands. In the end I will take with me and also leave behind some of the love and beauty that was generated in these moments.

It is in these moments of free time that we find the glitter of our life. We find our soul reaches out and embraces these moments with intensity and makes certain that we walk away with a full heart and a beautiful memory. Gifts of free time can be of solitude so that we can simply be and discover who we are, what our passions are and what lights the sparks within us. Gifts of free time can be shared with others, but don't need to be scheduled and orchestrated. Instead, surrender to the spontaneity and delight in the wonder of the magic that happens.

Blessings, Lisa