Sitting down is something, before I retired, I rarely did. Anyone who has a home, children, and works full time needs no explanation of that. After those things were removed from my life, though I continued to be active and healthy, there suddenly was time to sit down. You would think after 35 years of a running life, I’d now appreciate there is time for a sitting life. No. Not me.
Everyday my sitting time occurs between 12 and 2 pm. I didn’t decide this, it just happened as a normal rhythm that my day settled into. News, newspaper, lunch, some daytime tv, time to read, and write this blog just fell into the time after a rigorous morning of yoga. Driving home from class, I found myself really looking forward to these next few hours. For a long time, though I love this part of my day, I just couldn’t settle into fully enjoying it. After years of running, sitting anytime before 8 pm at night just didn’t feel natural. I spent a lot of time convincing myself that it’s okay and I should really stop and appreciate these hours each day. No. Still hard. Until today. Today I came across the best little story by Sallirae Henderson:
“When I found out I no longer had the stamina to work long hours clearing the limbs in the woods around my house, I began to bring a lawn chair and a thermos with me. I still work in the woods, but stop frequently to sit and have a cup of tea. I’ve identified birds I didn’t know lived here and evidence that a bobcat shares the property. Since I’ve slowed down some I see things I never saw before and found that quiet solitude is not lonely, but nurturing, allowing my heart to open to signs and lessons of nature that surround me.”
Another ah..ha moment. These hours between 12 and 2 allow me to enter a world I never got to spend much time in most of my life. I never had time to actually sit and follow a half hour of news. I never had time to read a newspaper beyond a quick 5 minute headline scan. I never had time to pay attention to the local writers on the opinion pages and give due diligence to what they had to say. I never had time to sit and contemplate my own thoughts and reactions to the world and be able to write them down. Just as Sallirae learned more about the world in her own backyard simply by sitting, I’m constantly learning more about the world I spend my time in. I finally feel this is a good thing. A gift. In fact, I’m going to see to it that I enjoy every minute of my “chair time”. Slowing down and sitting a bit is new opportunity to see everyday things in a new light.
I wish I had somehow made some sitting time when I was living my running life, because now I wonder what the view was like from the other chairs I could’ve sat in during those years. Whether living a running life or a sitting life, take time to really see the world from a chair. It makes you sit up and take notice.
And so, as another day goes by, putting my feet up with a good book on a rainy afternoon, life, today, is good, and…I have written.
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