Quality time.

I wonder how many of us have ever complained that we don't have enough time to do this or that? And it always ended up not doing the things/tasks we wish to do, such as doing our favourite activity, spending a day with family and so on. I am guilty of that. After all, everyone has the same amount of time at hand - 24 hours, 1440 minutes and 86 400 seconds a day.  Why am I thinking that time is not enough?

As I grow older, I have become more aware about this habit of mine- procrastinating and feeling that this is not the 'right time'  to do yet.  When WFH begins during CB period, I realised most of us can be pretty efficient in completing the tasks within few hours so that the rest of the time can be free up to do other things at home.  This applies to home, when we can actually use the limited time that we have on things that we set out to do, if we really want to. 

I recalled one day when I was alone at home with my mum and we started sharing about politics issues. Honestly, that was really my first time hearing from mum talking about her perspective and I realised that how I have not taken the opportunity to talk to mum about in-depth issues besides domestic matter e.g. What are you cooking today? It was pretty rare to have such talk and I gave my 100% to listen to mum and exchange views with her. Such conversation dawns on me that my mum does actually have her own views about sensitive issues and it was just that she chooses not to discuss so openly about it. That afternoon had been a quality time spent with my mum and this has encouraged me to seek to understand my mum more, beyond just knowing her as a dedicated mum looking after the family. 

Another fulfilling time was the one spent at ah ma's house. To be honest, I was always feeling uncertain about staying with ah ma in the room as she couldn't talk much and sleep most of the time. It ended up always going in for less than 10 minutes and went out to the living room to do my stuff. But yesterday, I decided to stay for as long as I could to talk to her even though she was in a sleepy mode. The 45 minutes to 1 hour of mostly a one-direction talk was initially awkward, but it really made it worthwhile when ah ma responded more than a few words in between. 

I always felt that my hubby is too responsible and that he would take it upon himself to solve things if he sees any issue. Just like yesterday, he decided to go down to Chomp Pang to look for television as the one at Ah Ma's house was spoilt. Honestly speaking, I felt a little uncomfortable and questioned his effort but his response blew me away, "Ah Gong only has TV to keep himself entertained and  he doesn't usually go out. If there is no TV, then he will be very bored and have nothing to do." This makes me feel embarrassed about the selfish thought of mine and I realised that this could be the time that we can help ah gong and connect with him since I always find that there is a 代沟 between us. Fast forward, I felt a little accomplished that we managed to buy a TV for ah gong from NP  and fixed it up for him to watch within a span of 3 hours:) From his appreciative facial expression, it really warmed my heart. Making the time with grandparents counts really made my day. I beamed with smiles and told my hubby that it had been a fulfilling day:)

To myself, there is never a 'right' time to start doing what I wish or plan out to do.  And a self-reminder that 'the way how we spend time defines who we are' ~ Jonathon Estrin