It does not take much—just 10 or 15 minutes of silence or quiet time each day can make a huge difference in the harried life of the average single parent. Of course, I am talking about silence and quiet time we are actually awake, while sleep is great, we need some waking down time to collect our thoughts, pray, meditate, or whatever too. Finding and carving out that valuable time is the problem…
The reality of a single parent’s life is that it is fully packed with chores, duties, and tasks. For many of us, from the moment our feet hit the floor in the morning until the head hits the pillow at night, we are go, go, go. Every hour in our datebook has something written next to it. True silence and quiet time are important to mental health and peace of mind, however, and if we can find even ten minutes each day, we will feel the difference.
Here are some tips from someone who has been there on how to find quiet and silent time in the course of a busy day: Consider setting your alarm 15 minutes early and getting up to meditate or have a cup of coffee on the patio. Spending the last 15 minutes of the day in meditation, prayer or in quiet contemplation can be helpful too. After the kids are in bed and the chores are done, just put off bedtime for a few minutes and make that some cherished time just to experience the silence of a settled house.
I have also found that the garden and the bathroom can be sanctuaries. Spending a little time out amongst the flowers or just sitting on the patio with my eyes closed listening to the sounds of the neighborhood can be incredibly therapeutic. Take a little extra time in the shower or to soak in the bathtub without interruption. Again, if you try to do this while your kids are running around, you will be interrupted, but if you carve out time when the kids are disposed, you may get those 15 minutes of peace, silence or quiet time that you so need.
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