I’m sitting here looking at an orange coloured sky as the sun drops behind the mountains in the west and realize that sometimes winter isn’t so bad.

I know I do a lot of griping about the weather but as I sat here today nursing an injury which kept me on the couch, I watched a light snow fall outside my window and was very thankful for the safety and security of my home and the warmth of my fire.

When life says, ‘Hey sit down and don’t move,’ you have the opportunity to take a look around your environment.

So I sit, at first deciding on what to do for Christmas, spying some dust under the love seat that is now mocking me and calling to me like it knows I can’t reach over and obliterate its ugly self.

My head reaches all kinds of spaces even though I’ve been told to stay off my feet, my entire body is vibrating from boredom and the urge to figure out ways to change my circumstances.

So I continue to sit, and to study and to find more dust bunnies and kind of obsessing that the curtains are a little crooked. Oh it’s a mean thing to sit a designer in a room and make her stay; she will have the entire room re-done in seconds!

My purpose in this sorry tale is not to evoke sympathy but to encourage you to just sit.

I haven’t spent this much time in my home since I moved here and after I got my head settled and accepted the fact that I may be here for the long haul, I began to enjoy the time and enjoy the view.

I watched snow fall to sunset and all the hours in between as I watched the day roll past outside my picture windows and saw with joy how many times my pup wanders back and forth and how often he plays with the cats out in the yard.

I was able to witness pretty winter skies and to appreciate how beautiful outside really is.

I’m sure what I am describing sounds like personal torture for some of you and absolute bliss for others who say, ‘If I only had the time.’

We all have the time, it’s what we make of it and the season of perpetual busyness is ramping up and threatening to take over our souls and if we aren’t prepared it will swallow us whole.

Take a minute, grab your kids or your cat and sit and watch a snowfall or watch a fire burn (even if it’s the fire log channel).

Take a few minutes and a few deep breaths and prepare yourself for whatever your holiday preparations will look like. Right now is the time to steal away a moment for yourself.

Like when you were young and hiding and had a few blissful moments to yourself before anyone found you, these are those moments before you burst out of your hiding place and join the real world.

Don’t worry, it’s not going anywhere and will be eagerly waiting to grab ahold of you when you emerge. For now, just sit.

Kim Wyse is a Central Alberta freelance designer. Find her on facebook at ‘Kim Wyse Associate Royal Lepage Tamarack Trail Realty’.