Hours Gained, Hours Lost

I am on a mission this weekend - to complete the open book exam for the course I'm taking. It is the hardest exam/assignment that I can recall ever completing. But I'm not giving up. Perseverance is the name of the game.

I haven't work up a sweat, felt stressed or even increased my resting heart rate as I slowly but surely made my way through this endless exam. I have let myself become distracted but I have also kept returning to the job at hand.

Yesterday? I simply didn't stop. I kept thinking "One question at a time ... one step at a time ... forward progress ... anything I do today is something I won't have to do tomorrow". And the next thing I knew, it was 1:00 a.m.

I tended to 'life' during the last waking moments of my day and I was in bed by 1:30 a.m. This is unheard of for me. I fall asleep at the drop of a hat. If my evening is without commitments, I have a hard time staying awake beyond 8:30 p.m. Not yesterday.

I finished all but two questions in my exam. Today's task is to finish those questions, review the rest and get this exam mailed off and out of my hands.

It is now 11:30 a.m. and I have accomplished absolutely nothing. I talked with a friend for several hours on the phone. I did a load of laundry. And that's it.

I instantly panicked when I saw that the morning was almost over and I hadn't accomplished one thing that I had set out to do today. Then I stopped.

Last night I easily 'gained' four hours because I worked not only after supper, but early into the morning. This morning I 'lost' a few hours visiting with a friend. I'm still ahead of the game by two hours. Plus I got to chat with a good friend. So I have gained all around.

I don't need daylight savings time to gain or lose hours in my day. Depending on what I do with the day set out before me, I gain and lose hours all year long.

The important thing to remember is that time spent with friends, family and tending to yourself are hours gained. You will never regret time spent making memories. One can't move through life at your optimal pace if you don't take care of what is important.