As I sit here on vacation in the beautiful Tulum, Mexico seeing such calm around me it emphasises to me even more why we should try in our hectic city lives to 'keep things simple, keep things calm'.
Of course where I am now isn't my real life, and of course this is exactly why we get away...to experience relaxation away from the norm. But it is no justification as to why life should be SO hectic back home. That some of us do not even get a minute of this feeling each week...We should.
The importance of calm and relaxation in our lives is sometimes just forgotten. Sucked up into the clock watched world so many of us live in. We justify keeping our lives full and to a schedule every day. We 'need' to do all of the things we do...My personal thoughts- NO we don't.
We must start to put ourselves and our sanity first! It sometimes takes a bit of getting used to, this 'more time to ourselves' but it is a must. It really is. We need to go back...
Think to yourself at the beginning of a new week:
*Do we really need to put that supposedly relaxed coffee with a friend in today's schedule or are you just trying to squeeze something extra in? Will it be relaxing or will it be rushed? If the latter - cancel! In fact don't even cancel - just don't put it in to start with. Save it for for when you do actually realistically have time. What are we afraid of?
*Do we need to spend our precious evenings on the telephone to friends, or should we be relaxing? Say to a friend that you just need to relax. Not to be on the phone, when that is what you've been doing all day at work. True friends just get it.
*Do you want to spend the evening on a laptop searching for...what? Trawling through pages you don't need to? Or if you do - then make it half an hour then put it away. Even this creates a nice feeling of calm. No laptops or internet in the evenings. More time to relax and have...oh what's it called? Face to Face CONVERSATION!! Not tweets, no status updates, no nothing other than the back to basics...that's right, no phone social networking!
The evenings and weekend is your time. I am most definitely speaking from personal experience and I made some tiny changes in my life that have made a huge difference.
I no longer tick boxes. By this I mean I used to almost create a list in my head of friends I 'needed' to see. Feeling I was failing if I didn't do the right thing and see everyone I 'should'.
Now - well I believe that's not right. I would much rather see a friend when I have time. Spend quality time with them and not rush a whole month's worth of catching up into an hour. It is much better to spend a fantastic few hours every few months than a low quality, rushed hour once a week?
Quality time or just simply time? I know what I choose.
My friends and family are the backbone of my life. Their company is priceless and I value the time I spend with them more than anything.