Wait a Minute . . .

I have been going great guns for several weeks now because of school, my daughter's volleyball and the Electrical Engineering workshop I helped with. I finally have a chance to stop and take a breath. The workshop is over, daughter's volleyball team is on their way to the state tournament, and I will have some quiet study time this evening.

My oldest son, Aaron, is working on his Master's in Communication Studies here at UT. On his day off last week, he made the comment that when he finally had a day off and dropped out of warp speed, he realized how tired he was and how much he had to do. He is like me - we function best when we are moving at warp speed. Drop out of warp speed and the rest of the world catches up to us.

Aaron's comments made me realize that, as busy as we can get as nontrads, we need to take the time to drop out of warp speed every now again, we need to wait a minute. Wait a minute and take a deep breath. Wait a minute and watch the sunset. Wait a minute and hug your children or spouse for just a little longer. Wait a minute and share a laugh with a close friend. Wait a minute and just stop, close your eyes and listen to the birds singing in the trees.

It is good to stop and wait a minute. I have an Aaron Copland CD that I listen to when I am stressed. My favorite tune is in "Appalachian Spring". It's a piece called, "The Gift To Be Simple". I love to close my eyes and just let the music wash over my weary mind. What better gift can we give ourselves than the gift of waiting a minute . . . to experience the simple things in life? Stay tuned . . .