This post is especially for those watch-lovers out there.
I wear a wristwatch practically everyday because of work meetings, appointments, etc. If I don’t have my watch, I have my cell phone by my side so I can check on the time. Though being aware of the time does help you avoid tardiness and meet deadlines, sometimes you just have to let go of watching the time.
Pick a day (preferably the weekend!) when you won’t wear your watch. You’ll be surprised at how events go by so joyously. You live the moment, and not have any baggage on what to do next or up to what time you can only enjoy that moment. Yesterday was an eye-opener for me. It happened by accident.
I forgot to wear my watch! I went about my “spring-cleaning” and didn’t feel any pressure to finish up at a particular time. As a result of that, I actually got more work done. After the cleaning chore, H and I visited my folks at Pleasantville (a.k.a. Suburbia!) and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon and evening there. We ate yummy take-out food, had a lot of laughs with my cousin Maxine and her folks, hammed it up for my sister’s videocam. All of us even stayed in the neighborhood playground. My sister and I lay side by side on the double-slide, watching the sky turn from blue to pink. It was soooo relaxing. We rode bicycles (I rode the one with training wheels) and went round and round the block. It was g-l-o-r-i-o-u-s. Dinner was fun because we all ate together and even used our hands. Fun fun fun! A lot of good times happened yesterday.
If I had a watch, I would’ve probably been pestering H to go home already, since we had work the next day. I would’ve probably stopped biking after 30 minutes, ate an afternoon snack for 30, taken a siesta for 30… you know the drill. Being without a watch felt so liberating.
I felt a kind of fun I didn’t feel in ages — the kind of fun you feel when you’re a kid. You play and play like there’s no tomorrow. That’s exactly the fun I felt.
It’s good for the heart. It’s good for the soul.
It’s a Monday, meetings are abound, and my watch is back on my left wrist. I look forward to the weekend again, when my wrist will be watch-free, and time won’t restrict me from spreading my arms out wide and running around the village with my family like we’re all 5-year-olds again.
Hi! I'm Toni Tiu,
and I've been blogging at
at Wifely Steps since 2003. This started as a blog to help newly weds adjust to married life. It has evolved into a home and parenting blog. I write about things close to my heart -- good eats, good reads, family, marriage, and the little things that make everyday happy.