do what you love Page 21 of 81

“Instead of solitude we opt for broadcasting. It’s as if a thought needs to be posted as a status update to make it valid… Being alone can be challenging and boring. But it can also provide us with creative space, new thoughts, and a sense of calm.” – Frances Booth in ‘The Distraction Trap’

Today’s all about quiet time…

Your Day 24 Making Time challenge:

For 24 minutes… take yourself swimming, go under water and look back up at the surface

We often look to the sky, the stars and space for inspiration. But how often do we look up through water? Today we want you to experience the magic of this maketime challenge and see the world from a whole new perspective. And to do it on your own, to taste how delicious solitude can be.

Go swimming, and wearing goggles (or not if you don’t mind water in your eyes) look back up at the surface. Watch as the light shimmers and shines across the water. Watch the waves and ripples make patterns above you. See how everything above the water looks distorted.

Enjoy that feeling of silence, of being alone in your own secret underwater world and take time today to reflect.

“’Being mode’ restores the balance by helping you sense more clearly the things that nourish you and those that deplete your inner resources. It helps you sense the need for time to nourish your soul and gives you the space and courage to do so. It also helps you deal more skilfully with those unavoidable aspects of life that can drain away your energy and innate happiness.”

– Mark Williams & Danny Pennyman in ‘Mindfulness’

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“The alternative to digital distraction is deep thought and reflection, where your attention is fully present. These are the ah-ha people. The world needs ‘ah-ha’ moments and ‘ah-ha’ people who are not too busy to think. It needs them for development, solving problems and innovation, to be creators, influencers, and clear thinkers. The world needs ‘ah-ha people who have original thoughts.”

– Frances Booth in ‘The Distraction Trap’

Your Day 23 Making Time challenge:

For 23 minutes… Soak in a hot bath

Soaking in the tub is a great way to relax because it releases endorphins to the brain, making you feel happier and more chilled out. And it’s also good for your health. Taking a bath can ease aches and pains, soothe stuffy nasal passages and help us get a good night’s sleep.

So today, leave your phone in another room, pour yourself a glass of wine, choose a book or a magazine, light some candles, play some relaxing music, and fill up the bath. For a truly spa-tacular experience add one of these magic ingredients to your water…

• An essential oil such as sage, which sharpens the memory, or bergamot, which helps to relieve stress.
• A fizzing bath bomb! It will turn your water a lovely colour and make it smell delicious.
• Epsom salts – they’re good for your skin, they’re detoxifying, they revive muscles and they can reduce water retention and bloating.

For 23 minutes, read or think of sun kissed beaches, starlit skies or whatever placemakes you feel happy. Let thoughts of kids, work, money, chores evaporate with the steam.

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Your Day 22 Making Time challenge:

For 22 minutes… read an entire chapter of a book, then tell someone about it

A good book is one of life’s greatest simple pleasures. Whether it be fiction or non-fiction, making time to read is important. As well as being a great way to learn, it’s a way to escape our every day lives.

Today we’re inviting you to be a bookworm! Visit your local library, go to a bookshop, or have a fresh look at your own bookcase – is there a book you’ve been meaning to read but haven’t got round to yet? Today’s the day! Bury your head in a book, read an entire chapter and then tell someone about it.

This little challenge will boost your concentration levels and sharpen your mind. You’ll need to have understood what you’ve read and formed an opinion about it in order to tell someone about it. What do you think about the book so far? What can you say about it? Will you keep reading it? Would you recommend it?

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New to Making Time? Start at the beginning anytime here.

PS Follow us on Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook for more thought-provoking inspiration

New to Making Time? Start at the beginning anytime here.

Your Day 20 Making Time challenge:

For 20 minutes… take 20 photos of what is around you

These days we move through life at such a hectic pace, racing from one job to the next, that we barely stop to take note of what’s going on around us. We may be able to do everything at lightning speed, but how much space in our minds does this leave to truly and deeply experience anything?

Observation is a powerful thing. It requires us to be present in the moment. It requires us to stop and tap into all our senses – sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. When we really start pay attention we start to notice the world in a whole new way. We appreciate its beauty. We dream, we imagine, and we’re inspired to create.

As the old proverb goes, it’s important to ‘Make time to stop and smell the roses’, so today you have some field work! It doesn’t matter where you are – in the countryside, in a city centre, on an industrial park, on the beach, in your back garden – take 20 minutes to observe what’s going on around you – people, animals, plants, trees, the sky – and take 20 pictures of what you see.

This process is about awakening your senses and connecting with the amazing world around you. Go explore, be inspired and open the door to your creative spirit.

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“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities but in the expert’s there are few.” – Shunryu Suzuki

Your Day 19 Making Time challenge:

For 19 minutes… Try something new

How do you know if you are going to love doing something if you have never tried it? So to do what you love, you need to be prepared to be a beginner. If you make a leap to something new and different, it is inevitable that there will be things you need to learn. And the fact is, you are not going to get it completely right first time. Consider new challenges as stepping-stones to doing what you love, and suddenly they seem a whole lot more exciting.

Today dive in and try something new. Sign yourself up for the class you’ve been thinking about, find out more about that group you heard about, or start reading up on a subject you’re interested in. You have 19 minutes… be brave and feel yourself come alive!

And remember this… It’s NORMAL not to be perfect. It’s HELPFUL to make mistakes. It’s GOOD to be playful and treat it like a game. In order to open your mind and grow, you have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. And the great news is, you won’t be a beginner at it forever.

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Morning reflection

Today, as part of our ‘Making Time’ series, we bring you a guest post from one of our team members, Louise Gale, who recently spent a month soaking up culture, colour and creativity in the tropical island of Bali.

***

Spending a month in Bali this past August was a gift of time to myself. I was to spend a whole month relaxing, exploring, slowing down and most importantly painting and creating with a group of beautiful women on a friend’s art retreat.

From the first morning, when I woke up to the sounds of nature and water running from the Buddha fountain, I knew my time in beautiful Bali would unfold and flow effortlessly. When I look back, it felt a little like being in a time warp; time wasn’t important and it did not really affect me. I guess I made time to not think about time. I was simply being.

Since returning home to my own little piece of paradise in Spain, I’ve been reflecting a lot on this magical trip and the wonderful practices I adopted over there. I’d love to share six things (and there are many more!) that I observed about life in Bali – things that I’m consciously making time for now I’m home so that soon they’ll become a way of life.

(more…)

Your Day 18 Making Time challenge:

For 18 minutes… prepare a delicious salad from scratch

There’s something incredibly special about eating a salad that’s been lovingly prepared – every ingredient hand picked, washed, peeled and carefully chopped. Nutritious and delicious it’s nature’s garden on a plate and you feel healthier justmaking it!

Today, take 18 minutes to prepare a salad from scratch. Enjoy the creative process of creating something special from whole raw ingredients.

Admire and appreciate the different colours of the vegetables and fruits you use: the dark red of a sweet bell pepper; the deep purple of a red onion, the variation of red and green lettuce; sunshine yellow tomatoes. Notice the different textures – the hard crunchiness of a carrot compared to the smooth soft flesh of an avocado and the different flavours and how they complement each other.

Look at what you’ve made and appreciate the beauty in the way it looks. Then taketime to sit down and tuck in! Savour each mouthful – the juicy freshness of each ingredient and think about all the vitamins you’re putting into your body.

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“Each moment is limited, fleeting, precious. Let’s not waste another one. Let’s live each moment, in love with life.” – Leo Babauta, on the ZenHabits blog

Your Day 17 Making Time challenge:

For 17 minutes… do something silly you loved doing when you were young

Building dens, making robots out of cardboard boxes, doing jigsaws, going on bike rides, creating sock puppets, putting on dance shows, writing stories, face painting, potato printing, wearing fancy dress, baking gingerbread men, colouring in, building sandcastles, setting up obstacle courses, making rose perfume, having water balloon fights, organising treasure hunts… kids have so much fun!

When we were little everything was about ‘play’ – we were open to everything and we’d use our imaginations, be curious and invent things without thinking about it. Thinking creatively came naturally and it was so much fun. How great would it be if we could think this way every day in adult life too?

Today we invite you to reconnect to the magic spirit of your inner child. What were you like as a child? What did you LOVE doing when you were little? For 17 minutes do this today and enjoy being a big kid. Think you don’t have time for this? That probably means you REALLY need to do it…

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New to Making Time? Start at the beginning anytime here.