"I don't have enough time!" is a phrase I hear frequently, and often from myself. Is there anyone who has their life so rightly balanced that their time is never wasted and they are able to do precisely everything they hope to accomplish?
I reckon not.
As I grow older, I find it more and more imperative that I use my time well. No longer can I play Age of Empires II for hours on end (as I did in high school) without feeling as though I've missed out on something important. If I were to time travel back to my freshman year of college, I'd probably slap myself and tell me to get off the computer and go do something more meaningful.
Granted, as an introvert, I need time to be alone and recharge. But, I consider this to be a necessary, fruitful use of my time. Refreshing Facebook over and over is not (Though I am not immune to such a disease!).
I consider good conversations, hiking, thought-provoking reading, community service, prayer, and cooking to be effective, meaningful uses of my time, among others. Yet, I cannot do all of these things all the time as much as I would like! Attempting to do so would be futile and unnecessarily stressful. Understanding that I cannot do everything, then, frees me to do my best to choose great things, even at the expense of good things, without being crushed under the weight of it all. Do I always succeed at this? Absolutely not. But, thankfully, I am slowly getting better as the years progress.
How do you spend your time? What would you do if time was no constraint?
Senioritis
Many of my friends will be graduating college one month from now. Every so often, someone groans and utters the word "senioritis."
They can't focus. Don't want to work. After all, they've hustled for 16 years! The drudgery of public education is nearly complete! The real world awaits! This work is boring anyway!
We did this in high school as well - why work for a goal that had been, for all intents and purposes, already achieved? A slackening in work output wouldn't result in the retraction of a diploma. Besides, all we really wanted to do was spend time with one another before heading to college.
This senioritis phenomenon seems to occur among some of those who are entering the last decades of an already full life. They're 65 or older. They've spent 40 years hustling for their employers. They have enough money saved to last them the rest of their lives. Don't they deserve to take a break, relax, and withdraw from the constant busyness around them?
In many ways, certainly, they do. And yet - when running a race, no one slows down as they approach the finish line. No one thinks, well, I worked myself pretty hard those first 300 meters, so I'll just take my time on these last 100. No, the runner presses on, speeds up, finishes well!
So, what is our mindset? In life, or the microcosmic years of high school and college, have we defined our purpose? Do we consider it a race to win or something that we just have to push through? As we ease off the level of toilsome labor, do we take the rest of our cards off the table and resign completely? Certainly, in our senior years, we have knowledge and experience to pass on to those coming after us. Do they not deserve the opportunity to learn from the wisdom their elders have gained?
I graduate in December 2011. I plan on taking easy classes. I am sure, even then, that it will be hard to find the motivation to complete my assignments. I'm ready to leave the public education system and move on to new things. Yet, without doubt, I will be back here early to help next year's freshmen move in. I will continue to be a mentor to younger men in my faith community, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. I will go on every Appalachia Service Project trip that I can. This last semester of college is not the time to rest on my laurels. It is time to give back.
How about you? Do you feel like you're trying to win a race or just push through an unwanted chore? If your journey is winding down, how can you look to those who are just starting out on that same path and offer them something of value?
Welcome
Last summer, I was working at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, enjoying the challenge but wondering why I was spending the vast majority of my summer sitting in a chair in a tiny room with walls the color of toothpaste.
Somehow, most likely at the suggestion of Joseph Rooks, I stumbled upon Chris Guillebeau's website, the Art of Non Conformity, while on lunch break one day. I read nearly the whole website and began to think, what do I really want to do with my last summer in college?
This website is the first major step in the fulfillment of that dream. I hope the blog contains insights and information you, dear reader, find useful. Perhaps you are looking for a portrait photographer in the Howard County area. If I don't provide what you're looking for, I'll help you find someone who does. Maybe you're looking for some art to set as your desktop background or adorn your walls - it's possible something here will catch your eye.
This website will grow over the coming months, especially once school lets out in the middle of May. I'd love your comments and suggestions - email me!
My next steps are to have a full-fledged business running and find ways that I can serve my community back home in Howard County, Maryland. I hope this blog can document what will end up to be an incredibly rewarding summer, as well as be a relevant destination as time goes forward!
Thanks for visiting!
Somehow, most likely at the suggestion of Joseph Rooks, I stumbled upon Chris Guillebeau's website, the Art of Non Conformity, while on lunch break one day. I read nearly the whole website and began to think, what do I really want to do with my last summer in college?
This website is the first major step in the fulfillment of that dream. I hope the blog contains insights and information you, dear reader, find useful. Perhaps you are looking for a portrait photographer in the Howard County area. If I don't provide what you're looking for, I'll help you find someone who does. Maybe you're looking for some art to set as your desktop background or adorn your walls - it's possible something here will catch your eye.
This website will grow over the coming months, especially once school lets out in the middle of May. I'd love your comments and suggestions - email me!
My next steps are to have a full-fledged business running and find ways that I can serve my community back home in Howard County, Maryland. I hope this blog can document what will end up to be an incredibly rewarding summer, as well as be a relevant destination as time goes forward!
Thanks for visiting!