The Luxury of Time
Way back in college, I learned the danger of procrastination. I will not go any further on that topic! But as responsibilities pile on, try as I might to stay ahead of things and not be reactive, it seems lately I find myself in that state more and more. Yesterday, a day set aside to get some things done before I had to leave town, became one of those days. You see, we have the Academy next week and I had this week pretty well planned. But life happened. Comcast, for whatever reason, decided the internet connection to my home office was not essential…and without that, most of the stuff I do comes to a standstill. I can deal with a day’s interruption, but yesterday was particularly bad because it was to be my last full day in the office before the Academy. You see, a week ago I had a plan. And even with yesterday’s interruption that would have been manageable. But last weekend, my uncle passed away and the service on Friday (today) is several hours away. I had not planned on that!
And don’t read what I didn’t write. I am not complaining that my uncle passed away. He was a remarkable man. He is the last of my parent’s siblings and was the best storyteller you have ever heard. But I digress. I will not miss his service. In his passing, he told his last story. Time is the one thing we can never replace. As we get older, time seems to pass more quickly; can you believe it is almost the end of February already? It makes sense if you think about it…for a 20-year-old, a year is five percent of their lifetime. For a 50-year-old, that same year is only two percent. So in reality, that single year is a significantly shorter relative period of time for the older person.
When things happen unexpectedly, we can get frantic and stressed if we are not careful. It is important that we stop, breathe, regain our composure, and tackle the challenges ahead. Some new research coming out of Stanford University suggests that post-pandemic time seems to pass more quickly because we have a fairly recent contrast with “lock-down” life. Now we are making up for lost time and navigating an increasingly tough work environment.
They go on to say that our perception of time is most typically driven by our emotions. We often feel that time moves faster when we have positive emotions, such as joy and awe, and slower when we have negative ones, such as fear. I think the level of uncertainty we have now, given the political climate, the geopolitical theater, and all of the cultural change that are contributing to the level of fear we all experience.
I think, one thing we need to remember is how precious time is. While we need to get our work done and we need to be responsive to those who depend on us, there is nothing wrong with appreciating the time we have and using that incredible resource wisely. As corny as it is, once a moment has passed, it can only ever be a memory. You can not get it back. So make the time to do the things that really matter. To do your best to find peace and to do your best.