Time. All We Have is Time

I am on break again and could easily go through the list in my head of all the things I love about this job of mine that gives me time, big chunks of time to breathe and rest and refresh. I could delineate everything I like about the hiatus from the stress and daily challenges of school. But everything on that list would come down to the same thing. Time. I lose all track of it in the work world. Time is simply the goal for getting things done. Ringing bells for changing periods, paperwork that has to be filed by some arbitrary date, meetings that start and end on time, grades that end the quarter, the semester, the year. But when I am on break, time is simply a form of measurement. Today is whatever day. Whatever gets done or doesn't get done has no connection to time. There is always another minute, hour, day to do it. And if it isn't important, it doesn't get done. Life goes on without interruption. In the working of the day, I just look up and say, "Oh it's 3:00 or 7:00" or whatever and continue to function based on where I am in time not what I thought was going to be done by this time. I love the freedom of it and it is the number one reason I think I will someday be a very successful retiree.

At this time of year, time takes on even more meaning. We have images and dreams in our heads of Christmas, of what it has been in the past and what we want it to be this time around. The beauty of it is all we need to do is stop and appreciate the moment we are in. It is all there; love of family and friends, honoring of family traditions, the making of new memories. It doesn't involve gift giving or big elaborate dinners or any of what we waste our energy on. It is simply taking the time to spend with one another. The time we have on this earth is finite. No one knows what that number is so at Christmas and all year though, I continue to try and remember that everything is about time. Not due dates or calendars but this moment, only this moment. It's all we have.