Today’s Friday, and on Fridays, I usually participate in a fun five minute writing exercise, over here, at the Gypsy Mama; she provides the prompt and the link-up party. The rules? Write for 5 minutes straight, no editing!

{And, after reading my five minute write, scroll down to see today’s post– day 14 of 31 days of Healthier Living…it actually has something to do with these 5 minute posts; read on….}

Today’s prompt is the word “CATCH”.

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Ready, set, GO!

You can “catch” more flies with honey.

And so many things are caught, rather than taught. So much can’t be taught, but lived. And as I go through my days, I wonder what my kids are “catching”. Some things, I am aware of, but other things, I am not aware of, and time will reveal.

I “catch” myself when I say or do something I shouldn’t, like when I feel as if every button is pushed and I end up yelling. And something like the noise of an annoying buzzer going off— that is the next button I hear in my brain, to remind me what I’ve done wrong, where I’ve messed up.

I have a lot of those mess-ups. And I try to apologize, but it’s hard to recover that ground.

My desire is that my words, and my life, my heart, drips honey, so that kingdom Love can be caught; it’s not just heard, read aloud, memorized… if it’s not also acted out, so that they see and experience Love and Grace, it is like a clanging cymbal, a senseless noise.

STOP

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That’s it! Five minutes. And now, continue reading to read Day 14… it has something to do with this five minute writing prompt.

Do this simple little exercise. You will need a watch with a secondhand and another person. I want you to close your eyes for one minute. I want the other person to keep time for you; she will tell you when to begin. When you think sixty seconds have elapsed, then you say “stop”. And then have your friend show you how close you were to guessing when one minute has ticked by.

Are you ready? Go ahead. When you’ve finished that simple exercise, then come back and read the rest of the post.

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Okay, you’re back? What did you find out? Did you make to one minute? How many seconds passed before you thought it was one minute?

Most people guess before the one minute is up.

The point is that one minute is longer than we realize.

And when you start adding up several one minutes, you reach five minutes.

Five minutes may not sound like much. And it really isn’t a large percentage of a 16-18 hour day. If you have younger kids, find yourself in the sandwich generation, or are a working mom etc., finding time is a challenge… but if you feel you have no time, just maybe you have five minutes.

Five minutes is five minutes. Five minutes is better than nothing.

Now, I ask: do you think you have five minutes a day to spend on your creative task? Like I said– five minutes only. You could even time yourself.

Do you want to learn the guitar? Spend five minutes learning which string is at top. The next day, do another string, and so on. On the fifth day, spend five minutes reviewing the letter name of each string. You’ve just begun to learn the guitar.

Are you writing? Spend five minutes writing. Even if all you can do is sketch an outline, or come up with one sentence, you’re that much closer to achieving your goal.

Do you want to clean your house? Pick one area and work for five minutes. (I like to put on some music while I do this, makes it more fun. Makes laundry folding more fun, too).

Do you want more time with your family? Start with five minutes of talking or listening.

Friend, at some point, if you want to achieve your goals, you will have to make an intentional effort of getting there. Wishful thinking and hoping aren’t going to get you there. A practical step, albeit a small one, most definitely is a step in the right direction.

So go ahead– “catch” those five minutes; and make them happen if your day can’t possibly hold anything else. You only have a limited number of times around the sun. Make each minute count.

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What goals do you have, and what steps have you taken in achieving them?

{Day 14 of 31 Days of Healthier Living}