Last Saturday morning almost all of my family was out of the house by 8:00 a.m. Other than myself, the only other person left in the house was my sleeping daughter. I was essentially alone and had the whole house to myself. There was so much I could have gotten accomplished during that time. I could have answered emails, walked on the treadmill, cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed, or even written this blog.

I choose to do none of the above. After walking the dog (some things you must do), I brought in the house the first half of the Sunday Times. I brought that, along with a freshly brewed a cup of Café du Monde Coffee, into the living room and enjoyed the solitude for an hour.

Everything else on my list eventually got done, including the vacuuming. But I gave myself a free hour and I really enjoyed it. Do you ever give yourself the gift of time?