Tick tock tick tock—Deadline coming, shouts the clock

One of the perceived advantages of working as an academic is the long summer break from teaching.  It allows the college professor extended periods of times for what might be called the “Three Rs” of higher academics—reading, writing and research.  If a professor is going to bring any interest at all to his classroom, he must be a life-long learner.

Yet, there is a double-edged sword to this richness of time, and everyone, not just academics, experiences it.  The sword is anxiety.

It is so very easy to be anxious and worried about time.  “Oh my!” I hear myself fretting.  It’s already June 16^th and I will have to be teaching again in just ten more weeks. Ten weeks?  Seriously Glenn, you’re worried about only having ten weeks left? 

Absurd?  Absolutely.  Yet I experienced the same kinds of anxious feelings when I wasn’t a college professor.  I’ve heard people say that “time is money,” and I think that there’s some truth to this, especially in that there never seems to be enough of either. 

So how can we be content with the time that we’re given and not succumb to the life sucking temptation of anxiety?

You’re not dead yet.

You’re alive, and that means that you have a purpose. Your best days are neither behind—or ahead of you.  Your best day is today, for that’s all you have.  Discover what you’re purpose is for today and do it.

Here’s a few great quotes about time that I look at every once in a while to help me get through my time anxiety.

Someone once told me that time was a predator that stalked us all our lives. I rather believe that time is a companion who goes with us on the journey and reminds us to cherish every moment, because it will never come again. Jean Luc Picard in Star Trek, Generations.

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring.

Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero – "Seize the Day, putting as little trust as possible in the future"—Horace.

Sunrise on Lake Waukewan,
Meredith, New Hampshire

This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24.

Procrastination, worry and anxiety are our enemies. Let’s discover our purpose for today and then live it, with joy and thankfulness to the One who gave it to us.