Even though we find ourselves at the beginning of another Lockdown, at least that is the case if you live in the UK. We can still be grateful for the time we have right now.   I don't know about you but I don't want to get the end of this season or even year and look back and ask myself the question what did I do with that year? Time can just pass by and whatever decision we make, whether it is to binge on Netflixs for 3 months constantly or whether it is to learn an instrument that time will just go. Were in the middle of winter and well the last few weeks have been the coldest I have felt in England for a long time. There was snow and ice on the ground for a good week perhaps even over a week. It has only gotten warmer in the last couple of days. I am fighting to keep the heating off to keep my bills down as we have had it on constantly for the last few weeks, I dread to think what my heating bill is going to be like since we got a thermostat lol. At times like this we want nothing more than to hibernate, in a way we can but that doesn't mean that we should be idle. I would even go further to say that to do nothing during this lockdown period is actually detrimental to your mental health. The bible says without a vision the people perish. We need a vision especially at a time like now. It is true that there are a lot of things we can not do in this time. Nevertheless there are a lot of things we can do. It is incredible what you can achieve from your home. Many of us do not have as much work to do as we would if we were in the office. Furthermore even if we are still working from home and we have quite a bit on, we dont need to worry about the commute like we would normally. That means most of us are getting time back. There are people who are working hard than they have ever have before and keeping our country going and we must keep them in mind and wherever possible show them kindness. One of these ways is by not making their job anymore stressful by staying at home for the most part. So back to time is a gift what are you going to do with your precious gift? For me its continuing to build a couple of businesses Artantics which is this one and the one my husband heads up which is Vandinterfreelancing which we hope to grow this year. In our case we are very busy we have found a lot to do in this time, in building businesses from home but also we have recently started a church HRM Home Church online. Perhaps in our case we should take sometime out to watch netflix or in our case amazon prime etc. We want to be in a place where we can fund many of the dreams we have of changing the neighbourhood we felt drawn to over a year ago. We have dreams to set up a foodbank, create community spaces for the community and youth to meet and create employment in the local area and social action projects. Generally to see our town thrive and prosper. Still we know that we need finances to do this and we need to be in a place where we are not only financially free but we can invest into other projects. If you want to read more about our plans have a look at our facebook page Hope released Ministries and Cafe Renovate So time is precious because it gives us the space to work at creating wealth so we can make some of our dreams a reality. What will you do during this time? How can you enlarge your capacity, perhaps there is a business you have always wanted to start but you never had the time, well you do now.  I will be writing a blog in due course on how to set up a business in due course! Perhaps you have always wanted to learn a language, to play a musical instrument or there is a craft of skill you would love to learn. Of course we must continue to rest during this time and of course there is time for a cheeky sneak at your favourite series or movie, there are tons on amazon. Like anything entertainment can become a drug and we can go to it for comfort just like food or any vice so what I do is I give myself a little bit of TV at the end of the day or at the weekend, it's like a reward to me for all the hard work I have done otherwise one can get addicted and you can look back at the last 3 months and ask where did it go. So I don't want you me or anyone else to look back at these months or even the rest of the year and wonder where did it go? Finally lets get a routine even if you have been furloughed lost your job or your taking some time out. I personally started the day with prayer and bible study, but as well every other day we do exercise. It's nothing strenuous it's a walk at home programme which anyone can do of any fitness level. Starting the day on the right foot with some exercise and having a plan for the day will really help you it does me. Let me know your plans for this year, I would love to hear how everyone is using their time right now, and then let's use our social media to be productive as well. GO FOR IT