Taking Time to Read

A few weeks ago, I participated in a craft fair at the high school I graduated from – a long time ago. I had a table set up where I displayed my four Malone mysteries, signing and selling them. I very much appreciate those readers who bought them. But, I got the following responses from several people. Words I, and probably every other author in the world, has heard many times.

“I used to love to read but I don’t have time now.”

“I’m in school and all of my reading is text books.”

“I have three young children and no time to read.”

“My job is so demanding. I don’t have time to read.”

Which presented me with the topic for this week’s post: Taking Time to Read.

Here’s a plain and simple fact: We can’t “make” more time. We all have the same twenty-four hours in each of our days and, I will grant you, how we spend those hours is largely dictated by our responsibilities. Life is complicated and demanding for most of us. We need to take care of business first but we also need to take time to do the things we enjoy. All work and no play. . . .  For me and many others, that includes reading in the genre of our choosing.

So, I’ve presented the problem: we’re all busy. Since I believe in focusing on solutions, rather than problems, here are a few suggestions for those of you who want to read but believe you don’t have the time.

1.    Waiting time can be reading time. All of us occasionally go to the doctor and the dentist, places where we usually have to wait. Instead of idly thumbing through a magazine or sitting there tapping your foot, why not bring a book with you?

2.    Schedule time to read into your day. Most of us have a schedule to keep and we somehow manage to do that. What if we included reading time in our schedules?

3.    Soaking in the tub is relaxing and therapeutic. Why not read while you soak?

4.    Turn off the TV at a designated time every evening – and use that time to read.

5.    Another TV option is turning it off when you find yourself flipping through the channels with nothing good to watch. Instead of spending your time that way, you could be reading.

Until next week, Happy Reading!

Gratitude

The first American Thanksgiving took place in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621, when the pilgrims, thankful for their bountiful harvest in the new land and their Indian friends, gathered together to praise God and to express their gratitude. Since then, Thanksgiving has traditionally been a day to celebrate all the things for which we are grateful. One day, out of three hundred sixty-five days in a year, when many families sit around their dining room tables, hold hands and tell, one at a time, what they’re grateful for.

But, what about the other three hundred sixty-four days? We’re all busy living our lives; we can easily get so caught up in work, writing and/or other responsibilities that we take things and people for granted. We forget to stop to appreciate all that we have and to be thankful for our many blessings. We need to remember that each day is a gift, a present.

Do we get up in the morning, thankful to be alive? Are we determined to make the most of each day or do we slog through life, bitter and complaining? Do we notice all the little things that go wrong in our day or do we focus on the ones that go right? There’s so much beauty in the world. Do we take time to appreciate and enjoy nature? Do we tell the important people in our lives how much they mean to us? Do we stop to give thanks (and credit) to others who encourage and support us?

I think of gratitude as an attitude we should strive to possess and express every day, not just on Thanksgiving. In our complicated world, often, the simplest words can have the greatest meaning. The following lines, from a poem I learned as a child, sum it up. “Thank you for the world so sweet. Thank you for the food we eat. Thank you for the birds that sing. Thank you, God, for everything.”

Happy Thanksgiving!