5 minutes

Yesterday I wrote a short and gloomy post. Well, not really a post. A whine. Yikes-it is finally summer! No time to whine. Time to remember how to have fun, how to celebrate. We all get so bogged down in being adults with obligations; with change and illness; with overscheduled lives.
We respond automatically with, "I'm too busy." "I don't feel good."
Too busy to enjoy this life? Too busy to celebrate with our family and our friends? How about, too busy to get at the dishes because we have gone out to look at constellations?
Ok, so I don't feel good. I can still go out and sit on my lovely patio. I can still sit in front of the fan and watch the Rockies.

This is from an email column called Daily Om. I have pulled some key parts for us.

Cultivating a happy heart takes no more than five minutes. The resultant delight will be neither complex nor complicated, but it will be profound and will serve as a reminder that there is always a reason to smile.
...The key is to first identify what makes us dizzyingly happy. If we do only what we believe should bring us contentment, our five minutes will not be particularly satisfying. When we allow ourselves the freedom to do whatever brings us pleasure, five minutes out of 14 wakeful hours can brighten our lives immeasurably.

It is often when we have the least free time or energy to devote to joy that we need to unwind and enjoy ourselves the most. Making happiness a priority will help you find five minutes every day to indulge in the things that inspire elation within you. Eventually, your happiness breaks will become an established part of your routine. If you start by pursuing activities you already enjoy and then gradually think up new and different ways to fill your daily five minutes of happiness, you will never be without something to smile about.


5 minutes...
hugs,
chris