Winding down to quality time

What is quality time? Is it a good night out with your mates? Is it surfing the waves at dawn or is it curling up with a good book?

We all value different things but it is important to make sure you are getting the work-life balance right and taking time out for yourself – whatever it is you choose to do.

At this time of year it is so easy to get caught up in all the commercialisation of Christmas and the rest of the festive season. Don’t be sucked in – particularly this year when many of us may be tightening our belts. You don’t have to spend big to get big rewards.

Make this Christmas time different. Don’t go over the top with your presents. Two well chosen ones mean so much more than five bought hastily at the last minute. Try to be more modest in what you eat. It’s not necessary to eat four times as much at Christmas – yet we all buy four times more than we would normally eat. You can still have a wonderful time without over-indulging.

Instead, it is probably more important to recognise the value of just being there with those you love and care about. If you are on your own, don’t feel you have to be at the biggest party or surrounded by fifty people to have fun. It may be better for your soul to take a walk along the beach or to go out for a long bike ride.

Often, it is one of these activities which can restore balance to a life spent the rest of the year lurching from crisis to crisis, or function to function. Slow down and have a good look at where you are at.

This year I shall be spending Christmas morning doing some voluntary work with a charity. I’ll be helping out at Hart Street for the Homeless by serving breakfast. I’ve still got time to be with my family for the rest of the day, but it is important for me to be able to help those less fortunate than myself.

Maybe the economic downturn has come at a time when we were all getting a bit too greedy. We’ve all been running on the treadmill of life just to keep up and maybe it’s time to get off for a while. We need to reassess our priorities and get back to basics.

Quality time for that homeless person will be having a good breakfast in good company. What will you do with your quality time?

Have a wonderful Christmas and peaceful New Year.

"Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves."
- Eric Sevareid