Quiet Time - Where Dreams are Born

We recently heard that Americans today have more free time than any other generation before us. Do you feel like you have more free time today than you used to? If you are like most people, your answer is no.

We try to pack so many activities into every day that we don't have time for reflection, meditation and quite time. This is a shame because it is during those quite times that your mind slows down enough to allow you to reflect on your life. It is in the quiet times that your imagination is allowed to flourish. Quiet time is where dreams are born.

"Our imagination is the only limit to what we can hope to have in the future." - Charles F. Kettering -

Some of you have jobs that are not very fulfilling. Maybe you would like to start your own business. Perhaps your marriage isn't where you would like it to be. Maybe you have a difficult decision to make and the answer is not clear to you. You may have some money to invest and you don't know where to put it. Or maybe you don't have any money to invest and would like to know how you can make more. Regardless of your specific dilemma, quiet time may be the answer you have been looking for.

Meditate on the issue at hand and allow your mind to come up with the answers. Ask yourself empowering questions like the following:

=> "What would I rather be doing as my life's work?" => "What kind of a business would be a good fit for me?" => "What can I do to make my marriage better?" => "What is the right thing for me to do?" => "Where should I invest my money?" => "How can I make more money and enjoy doing it?"

CAUTION: Avoid disempowering questions that include "why" and sometimes "how." Questions like the following:

=> "Why does this always happen to me?" => "How did I get stuck in this dead-end job?" => "Why does my spouse treat me this way?" => "Why can't I be the lucky one and win the lottery?"

When you ask yourself a question, your mind will eventually come up with an answer. The answers to the first group of questions will move you forward. The answers to the second group will only make you depressed.

Another huge benefit to quiet time as mentioned earlier is that it sets the stage for your dreams to be born. How important are dreams? In the word of Dane Rudhyar, "Man can only become what he is able to consciously imagine, or to "imagine forth."" The importance of dream building will be discussed in a future daily moment.

Do you take time every day to reflect, meditate and/or just allow your mind to quiet down? Or does quiet time make you feel like you need to keep busy? Henry Ford once said, "Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it."

We know what some of you are thinking, "I have three kids, two cats, a dog and a full-time job. There is no way I can have quiet time even if I wanted to." If you were offered an extra $12,000 per year or were guaranteed that your marriage would improve by 50 percent in less than 6 months, but it required you to free up a half-hour a day, what activity would you give up? Maybe you will need to set your alarm a half-hour earlier every day. Perhaps you could pack a lunch for work and use one half of your lunch hour for quiet time. Ask yourself, "what can I do to free up a half hour a day," and your mind will give you the answer.

Quite time will transform your life from one of busyness to one of purpose. Live on purpose!

********** Darren and Donna McNees are Authors of "The 21 Day Marriage Makeover: How to transform your marriage into one filled with more love, affection, fun and happiness." To experience your Marriage Makeover or to get your free bi-weeky newsletter containing proven yet simple advice designed to enrich your life and energize your marriage go to www.21DayMarriageMakeover.com. *********** Copyright © 2004 Darren & Donna McNees. Reprint permission is granted if the article is used in its entirety including all of the contact information above.

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