For anyone who lives at the end of a long driveway or spends a lot of time traveling for work, a big snowstorm is always unwelcome news. But after the yard is plowed and the roads are cleaned off, few things are more quiet and peaceful than a fresh blanket of snow. The mornings are brighter and the nights are quieter – truly a peaceful time of year.

Although it might be too cold to stand outside to enjoy our Winter Wonderland this week, when was the last time you slowed down to enjoy the quiet calmness of winter?

Most of us don’t. We’re too preoccupied with everything on our To-Do list and all of the distractions that keep filling up our days. We value doing over actually being. As a result, we overlook many of the little moments that truly matter.

Every year at this time, many of us say we’d like to slow down and enjoy the holidays, but then we do the opposite. Ironically, we give in to the pressure of filling up our calendars, and then rush around frantically complaining that there’s so much to do before Christmas and ‘year-end’.

Most of us would love to slow down. But we’re also committed to getting all of our work done. We nurture our work time while neglecting our downtime.

Why do you think that is? Is it because we value the benefit from our work more than the benefit from our rest? Or is it because one’s just easier to manage than the other?

Ultimately, you can quantify the value of the work you do by looking at your pay check and financial statement. So how do you place a value on the time you spend being calm and still? If you say you can’t put a number on it, you’re probably right… it’s priceless.