TIME WAITS FOR NO MAN
That is the phrase that my aunt used to share with me many times when we would have our Sunday morning talks. Time waits for no man. That has been bouncing around in my head over and over again this last week. Americans in general seem to always be rushing somewhere--fast! Being on the road for at least an hour and 1/2 each work day, I have the opportunity to see cars speeding along the major highway in record number. The price of gas it NOT slowing anyone or anything down. I know in the morning, when I merge onto the interstate, I pick up the pace and fall into line with all those other people rushing to work. The merging is not an easy task. I say a prayer every time I fall into that traffic pattern. My question day after day is: Where in the world do all these people work? When I used to drive north to Hamilton, I would wind around country roads past corn fields and woodlands. I would see deer in the distance...unless one or two would try to cross the road in front of me, and see those creatures in their beauty, peacefully standing at the back of the field. The trees in the fall were my favorite part of the trip. I would slow down to just enjoy their beauty. Now I see cars, trucks, semis and asphalt. I am turning into a dynamic driver, too. I don't like it. Time waits for no man.
My work schedule changes from day to day, week to week. I am in a different school, different classroom daily. My duties change, my work load changes and my opportunities change. It goes back to the word I am focusing on this year: flexibility. With my schedule I have to think ahead...far ahead. I work out lesson plans at the beginning of the week for the classes and teachers I will be working with at that particular school. However, once I get there and actually talk to the teachers, it could be totally different and I would need to change everything I had planned. I work out collaborations with grade levels as well as individual teachers. I plan out presentations for schools or even the entire district. Then add to that the class I am currently taking from the university twice a month and the assignments that I have there. My schedule leaves little room for flexibility. Then agian, maybe that is exactly what I do have to survive. Rushing to get it all in and fit it in comes right back to: Time Waits For No Man. I wake up in the morning tired and go to bed at night exhausted. Again, I question: What am I doing here that is making a difference? I love to be busy, but when it changes from rushing to the point of frustration, I don't like it. Time waits for no man.
When I was growing up and in high school, my family listened every morning to "The Little Red Barn" on WOWO. Many families did that. There was a farm director who also was a poet of sorts. He would read his poems every once in awhile. For some reason, even back then at that age, I remember one that he read. It was called something like: The Leaky Bucket. It talked about how this person was hurrying and scurrying because the sand was going out of his bucket slowly. Leaking, not pouring out. He kept rushing and rushing to get somewhere...he didn't know where, but he didn't want the sand to run out. Well, he was talking about life. We rush and rush and rush but our sand is still running out. Where really are we going? Where really are we trying to get to? Time Waits For No Man.
I didn't really make any new year resolutions this year. I always break them anyway and then feel guilty. I need no more guilt in my life. But one goal I do have is to try and slow down and enjoy every minute RIGHT NOW! I need to see those deer again. I need to take time to stick my head into Murphy's fur and smell his dogness. I need to read a book just for the sake of reading a book. I need to sit on the couch and cuddle with my husband while he watches sports or the news. I need to enjoy every minute as if it is my last. You never know when that sand in the bucket will run out. TIME WAITS FOR NO MAN. Those Sunday morning calls with Aunt Zip were educational!
That is the phrase that my aunt used to share with me many times when we would have our Sunday morning talks. Time waits for no man. That has been bouncing around in my head over and over again this last week. Americans in general seem to always be rushing somewhere--fast! Being on the road for at least an hour and 1/2 each work day, I have the opportunity to see cars speeding along the major highway in record number. The price of gas it NOT slowing anyone or anything down. I know in the morning, when I merge onto the interstate, I pick up the pace and fall into line with all those other people rushing to work. The merging is not an easy task. I say a prayer every time I fall into that traffic pattern. My question day after day is: Where in the world do all these people work? When I used to drive north to Hamilton, I would wind around country roads past corn fields and woodlands. I would see deer in the distance...unless one or two would try to cross the road in front of me, and see those creatures in their beauty, peacefully standing at the back of the field. The trees in the fall were my favorite part of the trip. I would slow down to just enjoy their beauty. Now I see cars, trucks, semis and asphalt. I am turning into a dynamic driver, too. I don't like it. Time waits for no man.
My work schedule changes from day to day, week to week. I am in a different school, different classroom daily. My duties change, my work load changes and my opportunities change. It goes back to the word I am focusing on this year: flexibility. With my schedule I have to think ahead...far ahead. I work out lesson plans at the beginning of the week for the classes and teachers I will be working with at that particular school. However, once I get there and actually talk to the teachers, it could be totally different and I would need to change everything I had planned. I work out collaborations with grade levels as well as individual teachers. I plan out presentations for schools or even the entire district. Then add to that the class I am currently taking from the university twice a month and the assignments that I have there. My schedule leaves little room for flexibility. Then agian, maybe that is exactly what I do have to survive. Rushing to get it all in and fit it in comes right back to: Time Waits For No Man. I wake up in the morning tired and go to bed at night exhausted. Again, I question: What am I doing here that is making a difference? I love to be busy, but when it changes from rushing to the point of frustration, I don't like it. Time waits for no man.
When I was growing up and in high school, my family listened every morning to "The Little Red Barn" on WOWO. Many families did that. There was a farm director who also was a poet of sorts. He would read his poems every once in awhile. For some reason, even back then at that age, I remember one that he read. It was called something like: The Leaky Bucket. It talked about how this person was hurrying and scurrying because the sand was going out of his bucket slowly. Leaking, not pouring out. He kept rushing and rushing to get somewhere...he didn't know where, but he didn't want the sand to run out. Well, he was talking about life. We rush and rush and rush but our sand is still running out. Where really are we going? Where really are we trying to get to? Time Waits For No Man.
I didn't really make any new year resolutions this year. I always break them anyway and then feel guilty. I need no more guilt in my life. But one goal I do have is to try and slow down and enjoy every minute RIGHT NOW! I need to see those deer again. I need to take time to stick my head into Murphy's fur and smell his dogness. I need to read a book just for the sake of reading a book. I need to sit on the couch and cuddle with my husband while he watches sports or the news. I need to enjoy every minute as if it is my last. You never know when that sand in the bucket will run out. TIME WAITS FOR NO MAN. Those Sunday morning calls with Aunt Zip were educational!
