Thursday Thought: How Do I Want To Spend My Minutes?

To keep going with last week’s thought…

I have a spin toothbrush that has a timer on it. The recommendation is to brush your teeth for 2 minutes, but I usually shoot for a minute and a half. It’s interesting how sometimes I brush for a minute and 15 seconds and feel like I’ve been brushing for a long time. Other times I’m surprised to hear the 4 beeps telling me I’ve been brushing for 2 minutes. How is it that sometimes a minute can feel so long, and sometimes it can feel so short? It just depends how absorbed I am in my thoughts.

A few minutes absorbed in positive thoughts really energizes me, while a few minutes in purely negative thoughts can really drains me. I can’t always be in the present moment, but whenever I am it orients me to more positive thoughts, which in turn energize me.

Of course I need to correct our children. But if I’m going to use some of the minutes of my day to correct them, would I rather spend those minutes correcting in anger or in love?

Of course I have to have difficult conversations with my spouse. But would I rather spend those minutes of conversation in frustration or in understanding?

Would I rather spend minutes angry about the “spilled milk” or crying about the “spilled milk” or laughing about the “spilled milk”?

When I think of it that way, I realize I don’t really want to spend so many minutes angry and upset. I’d rather just let it go and use those minutes for love, peace, understanding, sympathy, empowerment. It’s also more productive because those emotions are energizing whereas the other ones are draining.