Break Time

When I was younger, there was a concept called 'break time'. Most paying jobs included time for lunch and one or two breaks. If you worked long enough at the same job, you earned vacation time. I used to write during my lunch and break time. Then something happened.

Job pressures made me feel guilty about taking my allotted time. Phones were ringing. Long lines were forming because there weren't enough workers to handle the customers. Oh, noes! They needed me!

Right about the time I left my last job, cellphones really caught on. Now, it's possible for your boss to reach you at anytime, day or night. You're never really off the clock.

Somehow, our culture has allowed computers and other electronic gizmos to monopolize our time--and our lives. We feel naked without our phones and other electronic umbilicals. How did that happen?

We allowed it to happen. We live in a noisy, busy world. What if we turned it all off?

Quiet. We would have blessed quiet to contemplate life. I don't think it's truly possible to appreciate the bounty we've been given when there isn't quiet to enjoy it. Our lives are so filled with the hurry-scurry of daily busyness, we don't have time or peace to ponder on the important things.

We need to start taking our breaks...set aside a specific time with no distraction, no music, no computer, no TV, nothing to interrupt our time. Start with fifteen minutes a day. See what happens.