The concept of personal space…

It happens to everyone…we get so immersed in the business of daily living that we become our last priority. Our space becomes the most neglected. And yet, all we need is half an hour to connect with our inner space. This half hour has to be uninterrupted and undisturbed. We need to physically just shut down and enter into our inner sanctum…the space that belongs exclusively to us…This time out has no activity in it…no cramming in exercising or shopping, even if it is for ourself. This time out is to sit and relax or try to sit and relax with a cup of tea, or coffee, or a drink…Choose your own time…use it to review things, or think unfinished thoughts through, or just let the mind wander where it will. Of course there is a lot that pulls and tugs at the mind. And this happens at each stage of our lives. The demands are different, but they are demands nevertheless, and negotiating time away from them is a challenge. But, it is a challenge we have to fight and conquer to save ourselves. It is terrible to grow older with our hearts and mind in pieces, troubled, depressed, stressed out. Growing older is not easy and it would be infinitely more bearable if we grew older with dignity. This can happen only if there is peace in our mind. And this can happen only if we create our own space and spend time in that space every day…

(I learnt a lot of this from Shobha Dés book, Seventy…and to hell with it).