They say that our darkest hours are our hardest. But, I say, it depends on the dark.

Every so often, I duck out of life and take myself to the movies. I love to sit in the dark, turn off the real world and enter the one on the screen.

“Don’t you feel guilty?” asked a friend who does more in a day then most people do in a week.

“Hell no.”

To me, it’s like dropping the oxygen mask on the airplane and breathing first so I can be alert and calm to do everything that requires my attention. When I feel like I have taken some time for me, I am more patient, creative, inspired and hopeful. In two hours, I can gain perspective, get great decorating and dressing ideas, see another point of view and let my mind settle down. It is an amazing use of my brain. And of my spirit.

Sometimes I see really intense movies and other times I see silly ones. The bottom line is that in this small way, I have control and can do what I WANT to do. I don’t have to talk, compromise or negotiate. And in a life filled with talking, compromising, negotiating, work, volunteering, mommy taxi, wife and friend, it’s worth the price of admission.

So, the next cold rainy day, why not give yourself a “time-out” and allow yourself two hours in the dark. Then, when the real darkness shows up, perhaps you will have some light within to see things and do things you might never have thought of!

How do you MindFULLY drop your oxygen mask? Let us know!