Too Much Time on My Hands

“Too Much Time on My Hands” is the title of a catchy tune from my younger years but not a phrase that is even whispered by any of my present-day peers. Kids occasionally voice this complaint by using the words “I’m bored” during long, hot summer days. A quick remedy to make sure they say this only once is to respond by saying the yard is to be mowed and the flowerbeds weeded within the hour. They won’t be bored the rest of the summer.
I recently called to check on a good friend to find out that he had been struggling with kidney stones for more than a week. He just couldn’t take time away from work to deal with the problem before it took him out for almost three weeks. There is more to this story but only a very specific audience would find it the least bit interesting.
Just how little time some people have is emerging as a serious problem. I was referred to a family whose parents want their kids to be ready for college and they were excited about talking to me. It took three tries to actually get together for a meeting and once we agreed to work together, almost weekly promises have been broken for two months to provide contact information for the students.
As we schedule more and more activities for our kids and the lines between work and play become paper thin (with playtime losing out), what are we to do? Stress is the cause of a variety of maladies from chronic pain to heart failure and we invite more of it into our lives every day. Maybe we should at least pretend to have too much time on our hands once or twice a week and find a whole lot of nothing to do for a few hours. Schedule a blank block of time into your calendar at regular intervals and thank me in a few months when you find yourself more relaxed and rested.