A brief lesson in how to wisely spend your time.

I spent thirty minutes on my laptop. I ordered a few pair of winter pants and a sweater that was on sale. I drooled over a writer’s retreat, fantasized about the lake view I’d have from my desk. I twiddled on Facebook then surfed through a list of online yoga classes. I got hungry for a snack and closed the laptop. 

After my snack…

I spent 10 minutes outside taking my dogs for their pre-bed piddles. The moon shone bright off our fourteen inches of snow, the darkness of the weekend blizzard replaced by moon-glow. As we crunched down the lane my dog pressed his nose to the earth and I raised my gaze to the sky. A scrim of clouds passed the clawing branches of an old oak, beyond which the faint light of stars battled with the moonlight for my attention. My breath vapor rose to great the clouds. The snow crunched underfoot. My dog snuffled. I stopped. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe.

When I went inside I had no doubt about which minutes were better spent; once again strengthening my resolve to pay more attention to how I spend my time.

Gita Brown