Thursday Nights

I really love Thursday nights. It is the one night during the week I can usually count on to have to myself. Selfish? Maybe. But it is more likely that these evenings I get to myself are necessary. I am a real advocate of people having time alone. Yes, we need time alone to be with God, but we also need quiet time to be alone with ourselves. I would dare to say your favorite person in the Bible took time for him/herself. Go back and research it for yourself.

The thing is, we give out and give out and give out, and often feel as though we don't get anything back. Honestly, only we ourselves know our personal needs at any given time. Therefore, we should rely upon ourselves and not on others for refreshing and/or recentering.

I use Thursday nights to pamper myself in various ways. More often than not, I spend the hours in my room with a "do not disturb" sign on the door. I am not going to share specifics about what I do with my time. Something in me wants to keep that...dare I say...sacred. The point is, I become more human, more loving, and more loveable when I get this alone time.

I plan my quiet evenings, but they don't always turn out the way I want them to. That is not altogether a bad thing. I'm thankful for them, no matter how they turn out. Our "perfect" plans almost never work out, anyway. I make the best of the time I am given. We should do that with every hour of every day. Don't you agree?

I am selfish about my Thursdays, though. Sometimes I arrange them if I think they aren't going to happen. I believe my family understands. Take earlier this evening, for example. I was grumpy. I know it is nearly impossible for any of you to believe, but it's true! I was a Gloomy Gus! Then, I got my quiet time. It was a good thing I did, too. A member of my family came home and needed me to be a patient, understanding, and supportive listener. I could not have been that person prior to my alone time. See how others besides me benefit from my having some solitude?

After talking with this member of my family I was reminded of something that I feel I can tack onto the end of this entry: Most of us need to go back and rewatch the movie "Bambi." Thumper the rabbit was more than comic relief in this movie. He also imparted a bit of sage wisdom that needs to be revisited often. The wisdom? One simple sentence: If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all.