Everyone knew at least one person who had a garden, a fruit/nut tree, or flowers,
and everyone shared when there was a surplus?
Your mom said, “Go play!” she meant outside, and the unspoken remark that went with it was usually ‘until dark?’
Parents weren’t afraid of letting their children go outside and play until dark?
It was o.k. for children to get dirty when they played (and parents didn’t follow them around with anti-bacterial soap)?
Learning how to make mud pies was a rite of passage for children?
The most exciting part of grade school was getting into the classroom to see if your bean plant had grown (sooner or taller than anyone else’s)?
Taking a walk or exercising meant doing something outside?
Fear of germs, bombs, and germs used in bombs didn’t rule our lives?
Our lives moved at a slower pace, and we still got all the necessary things done?

Do you miss it?
I do. . . .

But we don’t have to anymore.
We can stop some of the madness in our everyday lives. . . .
We can return to that slower, less stressful pace.

How?

We can start by taking as little as 15 minutes a day for ourselves, and do something productive, like:
Take a walk outside.
Buy a houseplant, and spend 15 minutes a day taking care of it.
Turn the TV off and read something educational.
Sit and listen to the quiet, or the sounds of nature around you.
Just be still.

That small amount of time is enough to mediate the impact of the extraordinary pace at which we are required to function.

Try it and see. . . the worst that can happen is that you have 15 minutes to yourself!