Friday: Wasting Time
Do you ever have one of those days? (Of course you do. We all do.). I'm talking about one of those days where nothing ever seems to go beyond where you want it to, a day where you feel like you're walking in quicksand, never quite accomplishing what you set out to do. Well I had one of those days today, and yeah, it stinks!
I don't know what's happening to me. Well, I think I do know, but I hope I'm wrong. Age. Yeah, it's got to be age! At least that's part of it. I find that I'm getting more and more forgetful with each passing day, and in the end it causes me nothing but problems!
Today was all my own fault, really. I offered a favor to one of my students for today, a favor of which I was reminded of late last night, one that I had forgotten about. You see, my school did not offer summer sessions this year, nor summer make-up testing for the state exams, and the closest school where my students could go to take such exams was in my hometown, an hour from where I work. One of my students needed a ride home after the test, and I had offered to give it to her a little over a week ago.
It wouldn't have been a big deal if I had remembered, but in my post-Atlantic City euphoria I had made plans to do a little writing, get to the beach, and then hang out with a friend out at a bar in Bridgehampton...three things I really wanted to do. None of it ever happened.
To make matters worse, I forgot that the exam was in the afternoon, and so I wasn't going to be making said trip until around 3 p.m. I realized this only after I didn't get her expected call when I thought the exam had ended at 11 a.m. My morning tasks had been rushed for nothing, and I could have done so much more had I realized. Wasting time..
I needed to do laundry, but hadn't done it in the morning because of the time, and then again I didn't do it in the afternoon for the same reason. In the end I could've done three loads during the time I actually had! All I did all day was waste time waiting, undecided as to what to do, and nothing got done. Grrrrr!!!!!
So why do I share this? Well, for one thing I know I'm not the only person who forgets things, or wastes time frustratingly. Time is precious, and although we all need our lazy days, we also need to make the most of our time, too. If anything, a day like this should serve to remind anyone to find a way to mark their appointments and responsibilities. Write them down and check them often. Otherwise there's nothing but unnecessary problems!
I mentioned several months ago that I had been reading, albeit for a short time, Dan Millman's The Life You Were Born to Lead. The book, for those of you who don't remember, looks at a life's meaning through numbers based on a person's date of birth, sort of like astrology, but more precise. The book is very interesting and very insightful, only regrettably I let myself get away from it, always intending to get back to it, but never doing so.
If you'd like to know more about The Life You Were Born to Lead, check out I'm definitely a 5 and a 7. Perhaps you'll be intrigued enough to go out and check out the book. As for the book itself and how it relates to this post, I am realizing that perhaps this forgetfulness has to do with some of the things I read about myself in the book.
In that post I refer you to in the preceding paragraph, I explain that in Millman's system I am a 25/7, and the '5' says that I am undisciplined, that I lack the focus to concentrate on one activity at a time, which is totally true! I am literally all over the place when it comes to pretty much everything in my life. Whether it be writing,daily activities, school work, house work, shopping, you name it, I'm always trying to do ten-plus things at a time. Maybe that's why I keep forgetting things! Duh!
You can either be good at a lot of things or be really great in just one.
That's a saying I heard somewhere. I can't say whether or not I got it exactly right, but the meaning is clear. Like with many things in life, knowing something to be true and acting on that knowledge are two separate things. Bringing them together is a key to getting it right. I know I have the potential to be a master teacher, a great writer, and so much more if I only learn to find that "just one" thing to be great at. I am a '5,' though, and so I know it will be a challenge.
I need to get myself focused, find some discipline. A rigid schedule, perhaps. I don't know how just yet, but thinking about it is a good start. This is a task I find myself facing today, tomorrow, the next day... I'll let you know how it goes. In the meantime, check out Millman's book:
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