In my own quest to stay grounded, centered, and focused on what’s most important, I recently attended a yoga retreat. One of the themes of the weekend was using our breath to create space. The instructor then suggested that we look for opportunities to create space for ourselves once we left that haven and returned to the hustle and bustle of daily life. It wasn’t long until I found my first opportunity.
On one typical work day, I was dashing from appointment to appointment with a little less buffer time between each one than I’d like. I arrived with just a few minutes to spare for a meeting with a senior surgeon in a very busy local medical area. My prayers answered, a parking space opened up just as my car neared. Whew! I would make it on time.
As was my habit, I started to figure out how much time to put on the meter – 10 minutes until my meeting was set to start, 30 minutes for the meeting itself, another 10 to get back to the car, plus another 15 minutes just in case things ran a little late. Then my yoga instructor’s voice rang in my ears and I pumped in a few more quarters leaving a full hour of extra time on the meter just to create that space he was talking about.
The surgeon rushed in from the operating room and apologized that he would only have 50 minutes to meet before he’d have to return to the OR. We’d only been scheduled for half an hour! I took a deep breath and smiled to myself as I remembered putting the extra quarters in the parking meter. With that small investment of an extra 75¢, I had bought myself the space I needed to absorb that extra time with the surgeon. Not having to rush back to the street where meter maids walk the steady beat, I was free to put my full attention to the matter at hand. And I didn’t have to rush the executive who wanted to talk about a challenge he was facing that day when that meeting ended. And, I enjoyed thinking about how easy it was to create that bit of space that allowed for wonderfully productive time with my clients. It was the best investment I’ve made in a very long time.