Over the weekend we were blessed with an extra hour of Sunday. When I saw Daylight Saving Time on the calendar for Nov. 7, I was ecstatic. Who doesn’t want an extra hour? There are so many days I am wishing for a few more hours in the day, aren’t we all?
But when I finally got that extra hour, what did I do with it?
Well, to be quite honest, I slept. I slept like it was nobody’s business. I slept for not only that extra hour, but I took the liberty to sleep a good solid 9 hours and 43 minutes—something I never do.
As I headed out on my later-than-normal run Sunday morning, I kicked myself a little about using that extra hour as a nonproductive snooze. I could have been writing my blog. I could have been making muffins. I could have been grading essays. I could have been watching the sunrise. But no, I slept instead.
Then my logical self spoke up against my workaholic self and said, “You know. Maybe you needed that extra hour of rest. Don’t ruin the day by focusing on what you could’ve done.”
I mean, my logical side DID have a point.
As my Sunday continued, I started to take inventory of how I spent the day. I went to a painting workshop with a close friend. I helped my youngest with her homework. I watched the NYC marathon and dreamt of racing there again next year. I planned out evening activities for the week with my husband. I did laundry and even made the Superhero Muffins I craved on my morning run.
I tend to pack quite a lot in on my typical 24-hour days, even on the weekends. Yesterday, though, was the first time I actually took time to reflect on how I was spending my hours as if that extra hour encouraged me to live more intentionally.
During the 2020 shutdown of the pandemic, we had no choice but to stop—stop rushing the kids to dance class or soccer practice; stop rushing to take a fitness class at the gym; stop rushing to a scheduled appointment; stop rushing out the door in a frenzy to get to work on time. We had to stop.
Now that we are back in the swing of things, we are back to rushing—at least I know I am.
Maybe instead of banking on an extra hour in the day, we could benefit from a happy medium of living each hour not only with intention, but also grace and allowing ourselves to enjoy the normalcy we missed, just not to the point of overfilling our plates.
I hope you find a few extra minutes of quiet this week, whether it be on the run, in your car, or even on your couch.
Enjoy some “extra” time every day, not just when it’s marked on the calendar.
Emily Dickey is a Waynesboro native who run for fun and always looks for an opportunity to spread the sunshine.
