Isn't it About Time?!

I’m currently going through one of the most confusing times of my life.? Oh, I’m not contemplating a new career or going through a mid-life crisis, that’s long gone.? I’m talking about Daylight Saving Time!? It’s confusing, isn’t it?? Hey, I’m a fairly smart guy!? I understand what the terms?“spring forward” and “fall back” mean.?The terms are easy to understand.?It’s the concepts I have trouble with.?I can never figure out if I gain or lose an hour.? So, what’s the big deal, you ask??It may not seem important to you now, but the older you get the more every hour counts!?Trust me.

Time is the one commodity we never have enough of.? Or so we think.? If we can tell the sun to rise an hour later or earlier twice a year, why can’t we change our entire time system?? Since “there are never enough hours in the day,” why don’t we fix that by decreasing the number of minutes in an hour to 30?? That would give us twice as many hours a day!? Surely that would be enough!? Instead of working five days a week, we’d only work two and a half days!? What we could do with all that extra time!? Isn’t that the premise behind Daylight Saving Time?? To give us more time to do what we want to do, instead of what we have to do, while it’s daylight?? Maybe the problem isn’t about time, but about what we choose to do with the time we have.

Albert Einstein theorized that time is relative.? I don’t profess to understand his theory, but someone once explained to me that if you could travel fast enough, in the right direction, that way, time would stop.? In fact, you’d start getting younger...if you’re fast enough!? Maybe that’s what we’re all trying to do, work so fast that we’ll have more time not to.? Are you confused yet?

I studied with a professor who said he didn’t believe in time.?? He said it was all a matter of priorities.? I tend to agree.? You see, we all have the same amount of daylight.? We really can’t save it.? It moves on with or without us.? We can’t control time.? What we can control is what we do during our time.? It really is our choice.? Dr Stephan Covey said that “Doing more things faster is no substitute for doing the right things.”??

Comedian Steven Wright says,?“I have a microwave fireplace.?You can lay down in front of the fire all night in eight minutes.”?? The great philosopher, Will Rogers put it this way, “Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save.”

I once had a philosophical conversation with the Creator.?I asked,?“What’s a million years like to you?”??The Creator replied,?“To me a million years is like a second.”??“What’s a million dollars like?”? I then asked.?“A million dollars is like a penny.”? The Creator replied.?Trying to outsmart the Creator, I asked,?“Then may I have a penny?”??The Creator answered, “Sure, just a second.” See, it’s all relative!???

Do you, at this very moment, know what time it is? If you don’t, it won’t take you long to find out, will it?? Can you, in the next 10 minutes, figure out what’s really important to you and how to do that?? That’s a little tougher.? It may take you ten hours to answer!??

It’s easy to get hung up on busy-ness.? We tend to direct our efforts toward work.? Which, if you tried to answer the question I just asked you about what’s important to you, was not your number one answer.

Most of us make work a priority.? Many of us make it our highest priority.? After all, we rationalize, we depend on our work to support our families.? And our families ARE important. But isn’t it amazing that none of us has enough time to do all our work?? And we have even less time for our families?? Maybe if we did what was really most important first, we’d be less stressed.?It’s easy to say, but often difficult to accomplish.? Of course, there are always outside forces that influence our choices of what’s important, but it really does come down to our own personal decisions.??

The writer of Ecclesiastes said that “there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven.”? Maybe we don’t need to change our clocks.? Maybe we need to change our view of what we make a priority.?? I’m sure you’ve heard or read that a person on his or her deathbed doesn’t say,?“I wish I’d spent more time at work.”? The key is balance.? We enjoy meaningful lives when we can accomplish our work and still make time for those we love.? Maybe it’s our coworkers and bosses whom we love most.? Okay, that may be a stretch.??

Daylight Saving Time is a confusing concept to me.? Often, trying to figure out what’s really important is more confusing.? But, you know, when I sit still long enough to think about what matters most to me, the light comes on and I know exactly what I should do when.? I don’t need a clock to help me.? My confusion subsides very quickly.??

Maybe it isn’t about time, but about what I value.? Maybe this is too deep to think about right now.? But when will I have the time to think about it?? I guess I can wait until we change our clocks again, when I might have an extra hour to ponder bigger issues, but for now, I’m really going to confuse myself and go try to change the clock in my car….