Warm and wet but not too long

My wife commented that the showers that she took during our recent stop in New York City were some of the most relaxing that she’s had in a year. At home, it’s not uncommon to be showering while our daughter pounds on the glass from the other side, demanding our immediate egress. Though we rightly ignore her, it admittedly does not make for a relaxing experience. But here’s the thing:

In listening to Elysha describe how relaxing her showers have been, I realized that she wants her shower to be relaxing. She expects it to be relaxing. And in querying other people since then, almost all seem to agree.

A shower should be a relaxing experience.

I hate showering. I view it as something that gets in my way, an activity that keeps me from the things I’d rather be doing. I make every effort to minimize my time in the shower by eliminating all unnecessary steps. I just don’t have time to stand there, doing nothing.

No wonder so many people seem to spend forever in the shower.

They want to be there.

I guess I sort of knew this all along, but until I heard my wife actually verbalizing this idea, the concept of a purposefully long, relaxing, shower never occurred to me.

While I certainly find the warm water and the moment of solitude rather nice, it’s not nice enough to warrant any extra time spent standing there when I have so many other things that I want to do.

I am often asked how I accomplish so much in a day. My explanation usually includes the reduced number of hours that I sleep and my efforts to be as purposefully efficient as possible.

But now I can add showering to the list. If I’m taking a three minute shower and you’re taking a fifteen minute shower, I’m gaining more than an hour a week on you.

I can do a lot in an hour.

This is not to say that a long shower is a bad thing if it's something you enjoy. I spend two hours on the golf course whenever possible, and while it provides me with exercise, a mental and physical challenge and an opportunity to spend time with friends, it's hardly productive.

But when people list their leisure activities, golf seem to be an appropriate activity to include on the list.

Showering? I'm not so sure.