do what you love Page 22 of 82

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.

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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.

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

“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.

Wow, half way through Making Time already! Can you believe what you’ve achieved in the last two weeks? We hope you’re as proud of yourself as we are of you. You’re doing so well! Keep making time and you’ll never look back. 

Your Day 16 Making Time challenge:

For 16 minutes… phone a friend you haven’t spoken to lately

“We all want to be happy, but we often mistake a rush of excitement for happiness. Well-being is more of a sense of contentment, peacefulness, and connection with a place and people.” – Anna Black in ‘Living in the moment’

When we were young, we didn’t really need to work too hard at our friendships. We’d spend hours playing at school, hanging out at college or socialising at university. But as we get older and work, family life and other commitments demand so much of our time, it’s not as simple. We have to invest time and energy in our friendships and we have to value and nurture them if we want to keep them alive.

Luckily these days, you don’t have to meet up with people in person to say hello or catch up. Mobile phones make it easy for us to talk to anyone at anytime, wherever they are in the world.

So be a good friend today and call someone who matters to you. Let them know how much they mean to you and remind them that you’re always there to support them, to listen to them if they need to talk, and to help if you’re able to. Or just to have a laugh together. As the title of that famous Beatles song goes: “I get by with a little help from my friends”.

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

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela

Your Day 15 Making Time challenge:

For 15 minutes… do that thing on your to-do list that you have been avoiding 

We all have a niggling little job that we’ve been putting off for weeks or months. Cleaning the oven, sorting out the wardrobe, paying those bills, hanging the mirror, replying to that difficult email… it’s so easy to make a simple task seem bigger than it is by just putting it off.

That feeling of having something ‘hanging over you’ is stressful especially when it’s on top of an ever-increasing list of jobs to-do. It also takes far longer than it should because you keep on thinking about it. Setting time aside to make this task a priority will clear your mind of emotional clutter and leave you feeling positive and energised.

So today we’re asking you to ‘just do it!’. Spend just 15 minutes doing whatever it is that’s been bugging you and see how much lighter you feel.

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

Today’s challenge comes with the feel-good factor and we think you’re going to like it! This is very different from writing a postcard or letter to someone close to you. This is about sending a note (perhaps an email) to someone you admire. It could be someone famous, someone at the top of their game in a particular field, or simply someone you have noticed who is doing something really important. 

Your Day 14 Making Time challenge:

For 14 minutes… send a note to someone you admire, telling them why their work is important in the world

Life is fleeting and we should never take people who have touched our lives in some way for granted. Telling someone that you admire or appreciate them and their work is a random act of loving kindness. It takes little effort on your part – just 14minutes of your time – yet it will bring them so much joy. Your words could maketheir day, their month, their year – their life! Spend those 14 minutes crafting an email or note explaining just why you admire them so much.

The more nice things we do for others the bigger positive ripple effect we create. What better way to restore people’s faith in the love and compassion of the human spirit?

Whose work do you admire? Whose heart would you like to you touch with a few thoughtful words? Today’s the day to drop them a line and let them know how they’ve touched, inspired or motivated you or remind them of why their work is so important. You’ll make their day, and make your own too.

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

“Every action you take today, no matter how little … give it weight. Put some space around it. Start it intentionally, with the intention to be mindful, to inhabit that action fully, to notice with all your senses the entire moment. When the action is done, don’t just rush to the next one, but take half a second to appreciate what you just experienced. Then move to the next with equal weight and space. If you don’t start treating this next action like it’s just as important as what’s coming later, you might never.” – Leo Babauta, on the ZenHabits blog

Our Day 13 Making Time challenge:

For 13 minutes… eat your lunch outside

When was the last time you took a lunch break at work? Not of those eat-at-your-desk-while-surfing-the-Web ones, we mean a proper lunch break – where you went out for fresh air, sat, relaxed and ate lunch slowly, tasting every piece of it, and returned to the office feeling refreshed, recharged and ready for the afternoon?

It’s scientifically proven that our brains need regular breaks from the computer. So this lunchtime, for 13 minutes, venture into the great outdoors and experience the benefits of some well-earned time out…

• Feel built-up tension from a morning on overdrive drain away
• See how natural sunlight enhances your mood
• Enjoy a change of environment – it’s good to switch off
• Savour each different taste as you eat your lunch
• Have fun people-watching – it stimulates your mind in a different way

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

“To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart.” – Phyllis Theroux

Your Day 12 Making Time challenge:

For 12 minutes… write a letter saying sorry, thank you, or simply, hello

Earlier on in Making Time we challenged you to write a postcard, which is fun but that is the easy option. Today we want to challenge you to go one step further and spend a few extra minutes writing a letter.

It’s always a lovely surprise to receive a handwritten letter through the post. It warms your heart to think that someone cares about you enough to take time out of their busy day to put pen to paper and write a few words, much less find your address, a stamp and a mailbox. That really is love!

Who would you like to surprise with a lovely letter today? Who have you been meaning to write to for ages? What would you like to say to them? Forget fancy stationery (unless, like us, you have a penchant for paper!) – just use whatever you have to hand and start writing. It really is the thought that counts.

How wonderful to know that by taking just 12 little minutes out of your day you’ll turn someone’s day from ordinary to extraordinary! And it’s an interesting exercise to see what your brain chooses to write about…

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

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