Spare Minutes

What do we think about in all the free minutes in our day? . . .Let me guess, you just thought "Pshh! What free minutes is this crazy chick talking about?!?!?" Well . . .allow me to name a few.
1- What do you think about when you are at a stop light?
2- What do you think about in the shower?
3- What do you think about during a commercial?
4- What do you think about before you fall asleep?
5- What do you think about when you are waiting to pick up your kids from school/practice/etc. ?
6- What do you think about when you are doing you're hair/make-up/etc. ?

There . . .I just named 6 "spare" minutes that you could be thinking about anything. So, what do you think about? Do you just stare aimlessly at the light waiting for it to turn green? Which, by the way, if you only sit at one stop light a day - that approximately 1,095 minutes a year (or 18 hours) that you could be putting your brain to good use. Are you? What about the shower? My showers take about 10 minutes . . .so that's  3,650 minutes a year (60 hours/year) I could be exercising my mind. We don't even want to think about how many pointless minutes are wasted on commercials every DAY, let alone a year.

I do not remember how or when this thought came to me. (Ironic considering the topic of this post!) But it did. WHAT was I doing with all these spare minutes??? And how could I use them to better myself?

Well, this was NOT an easy thing to think about. Nor a simple task to take on. After all, this would mean examining myself and possibly adding MORE things to my already jam packed schedule. . . But then I thought - well, these are minutes already built into my day. Its not like I am trying to cram more activities into my life. . . and if I don't examine my life and try harder, nobody is going to do it for me.

So I started simple. Doing my make-up. Every morning for 15 minutes I sit in silence and put on my make-up. How can I make this more worth while? . . .I was revved up! I was going to become great! I was going to do something with these minutes! I was . . .human. And I forgot about it for a while!

I think we all do this, right? We get excited and pumped. . .and then suddenly you're brain is an etch-a-sketch and life gives you a little shake, and everything is erased. . . But then again, it came to me. I MUST DO SOMETHING WITH THESE MINUTES!!! . . . Only there was one difference this time, I had a smart phone. I had a smart phone with the scriptures downloaded to them. I had a smartphone with the scriptures downloaded to them that could read them to me!. . . and I already knew that I needed to do something with this time. So, one morning I put the phone next to me and pressed play and. . . "I Nephi having been born of goodly parents. . ."  began playing next to me! I was SO EXCITED! I could listen to the Book of Mormon every morning while I was getting ready! :) :) Now, it was hard at first to remember that I was doing this. . . but once I got into the groove I was easily doing 2 chapters or more every morning! And doing so much in a day really brought the scriptures to life! I was able to get through the whole book in about 3 months. . .and now I have started again. It had become the favorite part of my morning! And the best part is, I get to do it in my spare minutes - - and those minutes are so much more meaningful!

Now that I was doing well with these minutes,  What about all my "spare minutes" in the car? Stop lights. Cross walks. Searching for parking on campus. Rush hour. . . What could I do here? How could I make these few minutes each day as meaningful as my 15 minutes each morning? . . .Well, my wonderful husband is the hero of this part of my story. He has spent the past 10 years of his life collecting gospel talks/lectures/stories from various LDS General Authorities on CD. Throughout our marriage we have enjoyed listening to these various CD on our hour drive to the Detroit Temple. (our favorite to listen to is Truman G. Madsen).

Again, I started simple. I knew I could easily turn off my radio for 20 minutes each day (10 minutes to campus and 10 minutes home) and listen to a talk on CD. That way, when I came to a light/crosswalk/etc. . . I would have something to ponder and think about that was worth my time. . .I am going to brag here. This was BRILLIANT! It started out as these simple 10 minute chunks of my day. . .then, I found myself sitting in the parking lot to listen and not wanting to get out of my car. . . Then, I wouldn't want to turn it off when I went to Wal-Mart. Slowly, the radio faded out and was replaced by the voice of Truman G. Madsen (my FAVORITE) teaching me about the lives of the Prophets of the Church! And it has been an amazing blessing! It has helped in my Church lessons, my time at the Temple, and my day-to-day life!

Now, I know that I am lucky in the sense that I do not always have a car full of kids that demand Radio Disney, so I am fully in charge of my radio. :) Also, I am not saying that every once in a while I don't need a stress-relief-break where I can blast a Carry Underwood song and sing at the top of my lungs! (because trust me, I DO!! as do we all!!!) And I am in no way saying that I use all my minutes wisely!!

But what I am saying is that there have been irreplaceable blessings and indescribable incites from these spare minutes put to better use. And as I search out more spare minutes and more opportunities to better them - the richness of my life will increase and I will be able to find a greater happiness in more places.

So. . .what will you do with your spare minutes???