Lately I have been thinking about my life, my job, my family and my health. As we all get older, we begin to see how time becomes so precious. I can remember lazy days of lying around and reading a book, spending a quiet afternoon watching movies or having a whole uninterrupted evening cuddled up with my husband.
Life has gotten busy, and these moments are less frequent; when they do occur, they are so precious. There was this glorious period of my life where I did not have to work, although while I wasn't working it didn't feel so glorious, as by nature I am pretty much a workaholic, but during this period the one thing I remember the most was having time.
Time is something I believe we all take for advantage, until we get older anyway. My days are filled with e-mail, phone calls, reports, spread sheets and various other things that have grown into this large, socially networked monster I call my career. I look at a PC from morning into the evening and never leave home without my handheld device that keeps me connected wherever I am.
When it comes to business, technology is wonderful, I must say, but for my personal life I am slowly realizing that it can turn into something that resembles a small room with 40 million people sitting around you, and this, my friends, is not conducive to an exceptionally healthy personal life.
This year I have taken some steps to alleviate some of the noise from my personal time, and it was the best thing I could have ever done. I now make sure I remove myself from my office in the evenings as much as possible. I only use my iPhone for an alarm clock in the mornings once I check out for the day. I am getting much better sleep now that I am winding down at an earlier hour, and dinner is on the table every night and we eat as a family. Take-out is no longer a staple but a treat; we are saving a lot of money, and the stockpile of duck sauce packets and fortune cookies in the kitchen is gone.
Today I will be taking some time to do something special with my children: we will be making all our own Christmas ornaments with wool felt. This afternoon my daughters and I are going to spend some time in the craft store picking out beading, embroidery thread, and other shiny colorful things we can use, and later, as we sit and create Christmas ornaments, there will be pies and cookies baking in the oven for tomorrow with the smell of vanilla and cinnamon wafting in the air.
Tonight it will be just us, 40 million fewer people in our lives. We will be creating memories and ornaments that my children will be able to use on their own trees when they are older. Hopefully the memory will remind them how precious this time was and ensure that they take time for themselves and their families.
I am thankful for my husband, my children, and the time I spend with them. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.