Recently I enjoyed a personal day which centered around ME! Now, of course this day wasn't a full 24 hours but it did allow me 4-5 hours of absolute free time. My question is do you allow yourself to take some personal time? If so, what do you do during that time?
Now let me be honest I am one who thoroughly enjoys time alone. I don't mind eating alone, shopping alone, or going to the movies alone. It has always been something that I enjoy for several reasons. One of the reasons is that it's not the easiest thing to call a friend out of the blue when I have a spare moment and say lets go grab lunch in 20 minutes. That's not realistic. People have jobs and children and responsibilities. The second reason is sometimes I like to be around people but not with people. I like to people watch and meet new and interesting people on a whim. It makes life interesting and I often learn something new. The last reason is that I like to try new things when no one is watching. For example, when I first moved to New Orleans I took a journey down to the city and in front of St. Louis Cathedral there is an amphitheater and there were street performers doing acrobatics. I sat down to watch the show and they asked for volunteers. Of course, I thought "why not?" no one knows me. So I joined about 7 other volunteers to get on all fours while this semi professional acrobat attempted to leap over all 7 of us while we rested on the concrete. Now, that could have gone terribly wrong. I could have been crushed by the amateur performer or skinned a knee and bruised an elbow but that didn't happen. I have a memory that still makes me laugh some 13 years later. I laughed at myself as I walked away from that adventure hand over mouth tickled.
This recent time alone started with a "scheduled" lunch with a good friend at a new restaurant, Compere Lapin. I had the Jerk Shrimp Roll/Pineapple Tarter Sauce with Chips, WINNING! I also added a glass of Champagne to spice it up. After my friend and I said our goodbyes I took time to walk in the beautiful weather and explore the River Walk. I made sure to take deep breaths to take it all in. My last stop was Ruth Chris, Yum! Of course, I just wanted a nice glass of wine while I waited to make sure I got all of my money's worth of parking. (Paid Parking) I'll save that for another day. Fortunately, I met someone who was also enjoying some free time and they knew of my family and we had mutual friends.. What a Treat! I also saw another familiar face that was enjoying lunch with a friend.
What a wonderful Day!!
Check out this interesting article from the Huffington Post and share your thoughts.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/27/spending-time-alone_n_7154166.html
