“I only have a minute”

Famous last words right?  I mean, what’s a ‘minute’ but 60 seconds? It seems like such a tiny amount of time and yet, it’s really only as small as you make it.

After all, how much time does it take to say “I love you.”  Or “I want to break up.” Or have someone crash into you? Less than that 60 seconds and still the world can completely change.

Of course, it doesn’t have to get that dramatic to create some shifts in your life. What a lot of us forget or perhaps just don’t realize is that little things can make a big difference, especially over time.

I was thinking of this just this morning when I was making a cup of coffee. I have a Keurig coffee maker so I can make a fresh cup quickly when ever I feel like it. I am happy to report I use re-usable cups so I think it is also pretty good for reducing my waste too.

Anyway, the point it is takes only a minute to make the coffee.

I was just standing there watching the coffee flow into my cup when I realized I could be doing something.  But what?  I heard my thoughts say “I only have a minute”.  I was making coffee but had class content I was in the midst of writing and was not about to walk away from that right now.

So I washed up the plate and knife I used to my breakfast.

For my second cup a while later I decided to do some squats right there in the kitchen for the time it took to brew my coffee. I’ll tell you what, squats can make you realize that time is relative and one minute can seem much longer than it did earlier that morning.

I remembered talking about how much of our day is spent in frivolous things like TV or waiting for an ad to pass by so we can finish watching our video on YouTube, or – like me, waiting for a coffee to brew. Wasted time because we see it as so little time. The “I only have a minute’ problem.

I get it, we don’t want to start something we can’t finish or that would impede another task we are in the midst of doing.  I certainly didn’t want to stop working on my class content!

However, there are really a lot of things we can do that would improve our lives a great deal that take only a minute.  Off the top of my head I brainstormed a few.

• stretching
• squats, leg raises, bicep curls (you get the picture)
• calling to make that dentist/doctor/vet appointment you need to make
• putting away the dishes in the drying rack
• putting a load of laundry on
• straightening your desk top
• breathing mindfully
• putting some books back on the shelf
• list things you are grateful for either on paper, in a journal or just as way to mentally uplift yourself
• change that burnt out light bulb
• call and make a time to get someone to fix that dripping tap
• pick a pile of mail or paper and sort them til your time is up or you’re done
• say/text/email and “I love you” or a word of encouragement to someone
• visualize what you want in life
• make your bed
• dig out all the receipts and get rid of useless ones from your purse, cloth bags and pockets
• put your shoes away
• brush your pet

Easy and so good.

Warning! You also might be amazed at how these little things make you feel when you do them. You may feel happier, more in control of your life, increase your self worth and feel less stressed!

Listen, no one is saying you need to keep busy ALL the time. But if you’re standing around and the cereal bowl is just sitting there…wouldn’t it be good to walk back into a clean kitchen?

Wouldn’t it be nice to stop telling your story of never having time to ‘move more’?

These little things add up. Some call them “tolerations”. Things we could easily fix, but ignore and tolerate.

They hover around our awareness and SUCK our energy and create pockets of low-level frustration and annoyance.

Let’s ditch them shall we?

What other things do you notice we tend to tolerate?  What would you commit to fixing in a minute or two today?

Big love,

Bonnie