For the last several years, I have worked per diem as an Occupational Therapist in a nursing home and doing yard work jobs on the side. These two income streams were sufficient to pay my bills and live my life on my terms. I love being outdoors and getting plenty of exercise without actually feeling like I have exercised. As I have mentioned before, with the onset of Covid, I made a decision to stop working in the nursing home as the risk of exposure is high. I knew I needed and wanted to spend lots of time with Mother Fran.
Making that decision was easy as I didn’t love working as an OT and have wanted a way out for a long time. For 2021, I have made my yard work side hustle into a business and am excited about not being and OT! The reality of that decision is hitting me now as I live in Upstate NY and it is cold outside. There is not a lot of yard work one can do in the grips of WINTER and time has slowed way down.
I am currently in my second month of not working and my finances are where I expected them to be. I anticipated the loss of income and so far have managed to meet my needs without breaking the bank or going into debt. My life is different though and that is taking some getting used to. My life has shifted, it has pivoted and I am feeling a bit out of sync. Nothing bad but it is unusual for me to have no routine, no schedule to follow. I am used to blocks of time on my calendar that were set in stone for work. A shift at the nursing home here, a yard work shift there. Right now my calendar has nothing on it that can’t be moved, except for a few doctor appointments and a vet appointment. Dang – that makes me sound old!
The question I have been asking myself is what am I going to do about it?
I could do nothing and just let this time creep by until I return to Florida in February. I could become a couch potato and binge watch my favorite shows and scroll through Facebook. I could buy my favorite snack foods and eat like a mad woman. Honestly, I have spent my time doing all of those things over the last few weeks.
“A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.”
Charles Darwin
BUT…
I have also completed a six hour defensive driving course that will reduce my car insurance for the next three years.
I have met my goal of 10,000 steps for day every day for the last two weeks.
I have plugged away at earning my CEU’s for my Occupational Therapy license.
I have cooked healthy meals for myself and my honey.
I have finished reading one book and am half way through another.
“Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”
Marthe Troly-Curtin
When I started writing this post, I was processing how I was feeling about having all of this time on my hands. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t simply wasting it by sitting on the couch. When you work full-time, you are acutely aware that time is precious. Forty hours plus at a job site puts a tremendous amount of pressure on people to squeeze in the rest of their priorities. I haven’t worked a full-time job in five years but I have never lost that internal worry about wasting time.
I BOLDED some thoughts about time in this post. Thoughts on how I spend my time, that time moves slow, that there are blocks of time, that time can be wasted, that it moves quickly. The truth is… I have no idea. I am not really a philosophical gal.
My best though is we are all writing our story about life and the opening line is… Once upon a time!
Of all of the quotes I read about time, this was my favorite!
“Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.”
Henry Van Dyke
Lake Girl
