Time Out

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Sometimes I just want to be a kid again (or at least have the boundaries and expectations of a kid...) In our family we span from a toddler, to a tweener, to two teenagers and they are all well-behaved. With all our kiddos, we held to the idea of appropriate obedience or you would get a time-out to think about your choices until you agreed to align them with our expectations. The time out would always equal one minute of time for each year of age (so a one year old gets one minute, a two year old gets two minutes, etc.)

I had this odd longing today for an adult time-out... what if I could just take a 46 minutes time-out? Not a nap, and not that I was in the dog house or anything, just a chance to breath deeply and mentally check out somewhere. Maybe it would be a specifically quiet or sunny place, but definitely peaceful and alone. Ahhhhh... 



Especially with today being Father's Day, there was just something about this idea that kept getting at me. And then I 'woke up.' I totally understand that in this season of middle age, with four active and engaged kiddos, Jen and I get to go and do every day, and it doesn't necessarily offer the latitude for us do what we would like. I've heard it said, "Some days I do what I want to do... most days I do what I have to do..." That's my life, and I don't resent it at all. I know there will be other seasons in the future with other adventures and margin and me-time that don't exist today.

Back to my adult time-out. I really like this idea of checking out, mentally, on purpose. I have regular prayer time throughout the week which is sort of like a time-out. Most weekdays I make about 10 to 20 minutes for quiet prayer, and then throughout the day, often while driving for work or commuting home, I make some gratitude-time to note all the things I have to be thankful for. 

Down time gives us margin, margin brings us at least some peace, and peace offers us the chance for wellness, healing and growth. Where might you find some downtime today and give yourself a time-out to reboot?

By the Way

A great thing to linger on in an adult time-out is what I call the "middle of a decade". Think back five years. Where were you, and what was happening? What were your expectations of life back then? What challenges have you overcome since then, and what triumphs can you lay claim to in the last five years?

Then reflect ahead five years. What might life look like? How old will you and your immediate family be? What might the flow of a year look like then (vacations, holidays, community service.) What about professionally? Will you have found yourself less enthused with success and maybe more focused on significance?

By 2019 a lot will happen for me. Two of our kids will be graduated from high school by then. I'll be be over 50? (and cancelling all those crazy AARP mailings and offers.) I love the challenge of middle-of-a-decade thinking. I think it gives a valuable dose of reality to help focus on what really matters.