I booked a couple hours away from work and rather than errands or a doctors visit or dentists, I took the time to do something most of us don't think about. I took an hour and a half and had coffee with a friend I haven't seen since February.
And it was wonderful.
In all my visions of a textbook perfect moment, there is a sunny window, a comfy chair and a really great cup of coffee. Sometimes there is knitting and sometimes a good book, and sometimes just me, my coffee and the sunrise. This was just like that. Only better than text book.
The sun was streaming in around us. Cafe Haven is renowned for some of the finest coffee in the city, and we sat and knit and had a really good chat, the kind of chat that restores the ragged edges of a soul. (Chatting with this friend is always like that.) Perfect. I hated to leave.
Most people would say oh my, she did that on company time. But do you know how I look at it? None of it is company time. Not one moment of it is. It is all mine and it is all I will ever have. I choose to exchange some time for cash but it doesn't belong to my boss. It is always and forever, mine to give.
We will spend 20 dollars to go see a movie or we will spend it on a bottle of wine or a pretty new blouse or a knick-knack for the house or yarn. We will spend 20 bucks almost without thinking about it. The one thing we never think about spending it on is time for ourselves. We should probably think about that.
I took my 25 dollars and bought myself an hour and a half to sit in the sun with a friend. Best 25 bucks spent in my life.
In reading this post I remembered the feeling of freedom and friendship taking time to reconnect with a friend in those few spare sweet moments when I worked full time for so many years. Now though I never regret the few scattered hours here and there taken, even though few and far between. I do regret working hours too long and not saying "No" enough when my time was utilized and not compensated. Good for you!!
ReplyDeleteFay