“Only 15-minutes”

Have you ever thought about the number of things we’re told we should be able to squeeze into each day because they only take 15-minutes.

  1. the amount of time added to meal-prep to make it from scratch (my unofficial average)
  2. the ab/butt/thigh destroyer (never done it, but a classic example)
  3. improve/expand your vocabulary (ditto)
  4. practice a musical instrument
  5. read the paper
  6. write a letter a day (to an old friend, to your representative, to the editor)
  7. memorize scripture
  8. read through your bible in a year
  9. journal before bed
  10. stretch
  11. take a short walk
  12. train your dog
  13. paint with your children (paint your children?)
  14. Bathe the children
  15. Shower yourself
  16. clean the bathroom
  17. tête-à-tête with your spouse when you meet again in the evening
  18. Putting on make-up in the morning
  19. washing your face four different ways before bed
  20. washing the dishes after dinner

There’s about five-hours worth of stuff there and I’ve barely touched on the basics of house maintenance and meal prep.

It really does go back to doing what we want most to do.

I think our limitations are just one more way of God to remind us both of our finiteness and of our need to depend on Him: both for the wisdom of what to actually do, and for provision in the gaps of what we are not able to do.

3 thoughts on ““Only 15-minutes”

  1. I just finished reading a book called Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, and one of the things the author talks about is the need to accept out limitations. I think you hit the nail on the head here in that last paragraph.

  2. Well, I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed the “it’s only 15 minutes” scam. :)

    I like your thought at the end; it’s comforting. :)

  3. I frequently think “oh, I could do that! only five minutes every day!” but yet somehow I end up at the end of the day and can’t remember if I even had a chance to brush my teeth. So much of it has to do with forming habits, I think. Amen to knowing your limits.

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