The Best Ten Minutes of My Day

The best ten minutes of my day can also be the easiest to miss. I was clearly reminded of that this morning.

To begin, here’s a bit of backstory…

We’ve had a lot going on lately, which is largely why you haven’t heard from me since January. I know how cliché it is to bemoan the busyness of modern life, so I’ll spare you the minutiae and leave you with a bulleted list:

• We have a new baby boy on the way, due to arrive in December.
• We were looking for a new house and just recently moved (whilst very pregnant).
• At the end of last year I was chosen along with seven other doctors to embark on a very ambitious national project (you can see more about it here) designed to double our impact in each of our communities and capture a documentary about the changes.  That project just finished in August.

This time has easily been the most hectic in my life.  It has also been a period of rapid personal growth and continues to be deeply rewarding on many levels.  I finally learned the value of singular focus over an extended period of time.

During this season of life I have been forced to be incredibly intentional with the minutes of my day and also the importance of constantly guarding my mind from distraction (I use the doorman principle).

As you can guess, this can make for a rigid routine if you’re not using some of that intention to create space.  Here’s what happened in my space this morning.

My little boy – who since moving to our new house decided 6:15 is a great time to wake up – came and joined us in bed. As he lay between Casey and I, he would slowly shuffle his feet and rub my beard stubble with his left hand. He would talk in a whisper and snuggle with his Mommy. Sometimes he would rub her belly and say “baby in there.”

It was a perfect moment of gratitude and joy. My heart was so full and at peace, setting the tone for the entire day. And it all would have been missed if I had rushed to begin my hectic schedule, or began checking emails, or given in to any of the other demands on my time that take me out of the moment at hand.

A Monday beginning that way would have sucked. This Monday has been pretty awesome. Create some space for yourself, find room to breathe, and watch your day unfold with gratitude.