Real Wealth

My day off is planned to efficiently execute the priorities chosen and any pre-set appointments. I write "The List' each week. It is specifically created in descending order of priority which is then merged into an eight-hour time. All are included. Then I make a route list that encompasses all my errands so that I don't backtrack or miss any of my stops.

Most of the days are nutty. Crazy nutty. I always have 50 'things' that I want to do in the 8 to 10 hours I have to work with each and every week. One of my biggest dreams for my life is to simply -- truthfully it could not be more simple -- have the freedom to spend my time in my own way.

Wrapping beautiful Christmas presents in hand selected wrapping papers bound by luscious ribbons with hand-written cards on heavy stock cards. Thus the presentation becomes part of the gift and adds a sparkling enhancement to what's been gingerly tucked for the recipient's pleasure.

Create beautiful cut-out cookies. For a holiday. A birthday. A special celebration. Carefully collect wonderful accents and mix all shades of icing colors to exquisitely ice and decorate each shape so that lips will actually hesitate before biting into each of these pieces of edible art.

To discover the web. Take hours. Days. Follow where my fingers want to go, winding in, out and through the wealth of information in the cosmos. To research everything from Henry VIII to the newest area restaurants to other blog sites. Out-of-the-way weekend spots to fashion trends to tracing a family's ancestry. Wherever fancy leads.....

To sit with a friend and listen. No rushed visit. No interruptions. Having the steam off two hot cups of tea slowly drift through a long conversation spiced with laughter. With memories. Being able to savor tales never before shared.

Finally start on that list of book titles collected over a lifetime. To sit nestled in a favorite chair with the afternoon sun tickling the crafted words as it moves across the opened pages. To be immersed into another time. Another place.

Real wealth? Time. I hope you carve out some for yourself. Some just-for-you space. To restore. To balance. To enrich. To spoil.