Day At The Library

Today I spent a leisurely afternoon at the local library.
You’re probably thinking: Big deal, why do I care that you spent the day at the library?
While I cannot blame you for thinking that, I’ll try to wrap this all up to something a little more meaningful than browsing rows and rows of dusty, old books.
I Like to Browse
When I visit the library, I’ll usually have a particular book that I am trying to find or at the very least I will be looking for something on a specific topic. However, I like to lose myself in the rows of books and simply explore the hidden treasures that I did not find in the online catalog.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, my wife and kids like to get in and out of the library. They’ll look for 5-10 minutes and find a few books that catch their attention and they are ready to hit the road.
When we visit the library together, you can put the George Foreman Guarantee on the fact that my wife and kids will come searching for me once they’ve located their books. I’ve learned to try and get the book I am after right away before starting to browse, otherwise I know I will be in a hurry once the search party has located me.
It’s All About Me
With my kids back into school and my wife spending time preparing for her job to swing into gear, I now have Wednesdays all to myself. I’ve got a flexible schedule at work where I work four days per week and take Wednesdays off, which was great last year when our youngest was not in school all day.
Now that the kids are in school all day and my wife is at work, I’ll have time just for me.
Last week I jumped right into my new found free time by seeing the movie SuperBad. The other three people in the theater didn’t seem to think it was very funny but I was cracking up throughout the entire movie.
Today I spent my free time by taking a trip to the library so I could take as much time as I wanted to browse the rows of books. I’m still reading The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss so I’m not sure when I’ll get to my new pile of books but I enjoyed my time at the library.
Take Time For Yourself
As I promised at the beginning, I’ll try to bring this all to a conclusion that will hopefully provide you with a little meaning. As my exploits at the library demonstrate, you need to take some time out of your schedule to spend on yourself.
It is okay to waste an hour or two going to a movie that you want to see but none of your family or friends want to see. It is okay to go sit on a park bench and watch the people go by. Whatever it is that you enjoy doing, be sure to give yourself some uninterrupted time to enjoy it.
Once in awhile you need to remove all of the other demands on your time and put yourself first. Turn off the TV, computer or iPhone and spend an hour or two sipping a coffee at the bookstore or browsing at the library if that is your thing.
Just be sure to set a limit to how much time you spend, otherwise you’ll have your wife wondering why the house is still a mess and the laundry is still on the bed even though you were “home” all day! 🙂