When all the snow finally melts, the streets are bigger. We have more space and we can actually park next to the curb! Warm weather opens our homes and we find our living space move outward into our yards or balconies. We are no longer cooped up and we get spring fever... finally.
Especially after this past six weeks of torture, as winter clung on with its mean, cold talons, the sentiment of many people now is that nobody is allowed to complain about the weather if it's too warm this summer.
Why shouldn't long winters remind us not to take summer for granted? I don't think we should take anything for granted. Of course, gratitude is the only true prevention against regret.
Most would agree that there is nothing more precious than time spent with loved ones. I am grateful to have always made this a priority. We all know each other really well. But sometimes we risk losing track of knowing ourselves, because time alone is also undervalued by so many people.
Precious time spent alone is severely taken for granted. Those who complain about boredom should take on more responsibilities - beginning with working on cultivating an imagination! We are all infinite beings capable of whatever we can imagine accomplishing, but we aren't going to get even close to our potential if we are sitting around twiddling our thumbs like degenerates.
Since my youth, I have relished my time alone and I've never had any inklings of boredom, because there is always something to create, or clean, or talk about, write about, make music about or laugh at - and time, as some of us know, is a slippery fish.
Alone time is psychological, because it is more about the space. Five minutes can be all that's necessary for some, especially parents. Breathing space is also underrated.
Knowing you have time and space - without risk of interruption - can be one of the most precious luxuries, again, especially for parents.
Most kids and especially teenagers exemplify the primal human need for privacy - from blanket forts to video games - we all have the need to create one's own world from within one's own imagination. This function is with us in childhood and if we are careful, we can preserve it into adulthood.
Indeed, youth is not only wasted on the young, but spare time is wasted on the idle.
It's not just physical space we need, but that psychological space, for any amount of time. Time to oneself can be also considered as space to oneself. Unfortunately, as we grow and continue growing into adulthood, some relationships or things (or relationships with things) keep us from not only having time, but also from having enough space.
A lack of psychological space can be recognized when we feel our plates are too full, or we become acutely aware of the expectations that others have on us and we even realize that some of these expectations are highly unrealistic.
Over committing our thought space burns us out and robs us of the unique potential we have to offer the world. Giving energy where it is not appreciated depletes not only our energy but our willingness to give in the future to more worthy causes.
Remember, we can have energy to do all the things we are here to do, but finding that energy begins with our personal breathing space.
When our priorities shift for the better, we find joy in the simpler things in life - like spending time with loved ones in nature, without distraction, or sharing a snuggle with a pet on your lunch break. The conversations you have with your children, no matter what age you are now, will continue to shape who you are and who they are. None of us are done growing.
It is wise not to take for granted the time and space (and everything included) that we have been given. We truly never know when it could be gone.
We can have more time, if we treasure what time we do have. We can have more space if we lighten up, too!
