I Only Have Five Minutes
May 29, 09- (by Mama MPJ)
- 3 responses
- Family and Friends, Sober Salon
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Today, I ran into a situation that would have caused me enormous frustration in the past. I’d finished my work around the house, I’d eaten my lunch, I’d even written a blog post about how I couldn’t write a blog post and I was left with a stray five minutes before my daughter was due home from school. Five minutes. Ugh! I can’t get anything done in five minutes.
Oh, sure. I know there are efficiency experts out there who will say there’s plenty that can be accomplished in five minutes. Make a phone call! Dash off an e-mail! Chop some vegetables for dinner! Throw in a load of laundry! And maybe other people can actually make those things happen in five minutes, but I can’t. I pick up the phone and am on hold for the full five minutes and then have to hang up without having accomplished my goal. I spend five minutes thinking about how to respond to that e-mail I’m supposed to dash off an answer to or looking for a clean knife and getting out the cutting board or collecting socks from under the furniture. And of course, there’s always some better way to organize my kitchen or my laundry or to train myself to be faster at e-mail or to multi-task on the cell phone so I never have to drop that call. I tried, but still, those odd little chunks of time — five minutes, seven minutes, two minutes here and there — used to kill me. The brisk efficiency I expected of myself continually eluded me.
Fortunately, recovery has taught me that there is value in slowing down, in accepting my limitations, in not rushing to eke productivity out of every last moment. It has brought me the tools of prayer and meditation: tools I can use anywhere, with no need for special equipment or organization, and at any time, even the space of a single breath. So, instead of rushing to squeeze some task into those last five minutes before school let out, I sat down, followed my breath and watched my mind do its crazy dance. Then I got up and met my daughter, calm and centered, having made better use of my time than I ever did when I was striving hardest to use it wisely.
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I needed this today. Thank you.
[...] a desperate scramble for words. If I find I don’t have anything to share, I’ll try to use my time wisely and join in the [...]
I think that’s the best use of five minutes I’ve ever heard of!