The Ten-Minute Time-out

It’s been, perhaps, the longest winter we’ve seen in our lifetime. 6 months, half a year of holidays, a new year and the innocent ground hog that woke up on the wrong side of the hole.

But then we had one beautiful day.

There I was, this past Tuesday, sitting at my desk beside my co-workers, longingly staring out a window that was too small to capture the big earth. The boss came inside and said, take a ten-minute time-out and take a walk around the block, enjoy this beautiful weather. I was trying to earn a paycheck doing what I loved and my boss, Laura Wallace, just dictates we take a moment from the busyness of making a living to make a life? Unbelievable!

What kind of ethically responsible human does that kind of thing, who just encourages others to stop, take a time-out and smell the scent of deceased snow? One who took Dolly Parton’s words to heart, that’s who: Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.

Brilliant violet rays seeped through my skin, making me feel all mushy inside even as I squinted against its power. 12 hours made us forget about all that discomfort of long johns and lacing up boots every. Single. Morning. The clouds didn’t just have a silver lining, so did the mud and the potholes eaten away like slugs under a bucket of salt.  Yes, when the weather radar forewarned a 50% chance of precipitation I was so high on the magic of March and spring I thought, should any showers hinder us from saluting the sun, I’ll just pull a Gene Kelley and sing in the rain. That is what dryers are for, are they not?

Maybe it’s not a hall pass from your cubicle, casual Friday, or an early dismissal but take the weekend and make it worthwhile. Make a life; make it come alive. Be a Goldilocks in a world of possibilities. Try everything until you find something that is just right.  And hold those 12 hours close. No matter where or when they happened, let your ultra violet rays resurface on the days that just need a little life.

P.S. It wasn’t long after that walk that fried ice-cream appeared on our desks. Ah, so that’s where the snow rests in peace.