How To Spend My Day?

I grew up in a prairie village in Alberta, where - from the time I was three or four until I began school - my day was completely my own. I returned home to eat and sleep - or occasionally when I hurt myself...

I have memories of making mud pies with friends in the blacksmith's barn, visiting his handicapped daughter who spent her days lying on the living room couch, wandering over to the train station and the local dairy, watching a neighbor stretch and pull the thin Swedish bread she was making until it entirely covered her kitchen table, admiring the flower garden of a retired couple and being invited to stay for tea... The whole village was my home, my neighborhood.

When I compare my carefree childhood days to those of my own children (who never left my sight without my knowing where they were), I wonder if my parents were too trusting - perhaps even negligent - or if life was simply different back then.

Retirement has again given me the luxury of deciding how to spend my days... But I sometimes wonder if I'm spending them well... Should I be more organized and try to accomplish more?

I read how St. Benedict organized his community's schedule around prayer, study and work: Four hours of the day were dedicated to corporate prayer. (The community met to pray several times a day.) Four hours were spent in study, which included memorizing the psalms, as not everyone could read. And six hours were spent in manual labor...

I wonder: Does this simple schedule have anything to teach me about how to balance my time today?! Does my life have a good balance of work, study (learning new things), prayer... and exercise? (I wonder where the outdoors fit into the Benedictine way of life. Was walking a time for meditation? Nature study? Or did monastics all work outdoors so they didn't need to go for walks?)

Unlike the monastics, I need to make time to be with people. They spent their whole lives in community. Like them, I change my schedule slightly in summer and winter...

It is a constant struggle: Determining how to spend my time, finding a healthy balance in the ever-changing seasons of life is not an easy matter!