Time, why is there never enough?

Every notice how nowadays everybody seems to be in a hurry? Where could they be going that they need to get to so fast?

The other day I was walking in the hall at school when one of the seventh graders flew past me, almost knocking me and a few other people over and dashed into a classroom a few doors away. By the time I got to my own class a few minutes later there was STILL two minutes before the tardy bell would ring. Sure we all have been worried sevvies, always afraid of being late to class and so forth, but you have to wonder what exactly was so important that he needed to be to his class before a full minute had passed between periods.

Again, there are always going to be the people on the highway going not ten, but twenty miles over the speed limit practically causing an accident with every car they pass. You again wonder, where could they be going in such a hurry? Is the capital building on fire? Is their first grandchild being born at that exact moment? Or is there simply a clothing deal they can’t bear to miss? My point is that except in rare occasions we don’t have a reason to be in such a rush that is inconvenient to those around us.

I admit, I have many times been in a hurry for a stupid reason and people around me give me the looks that mean “could you slow down a few hundred miles per hour please?” For example, I hate getting up early in the morning, like I REALLY hate it. So I push the time to its limit and end up dashing around the house trying to pack my backpack, grab some breakfast, find my shoes, etc. all in the last five minutes before my bus comes. This seems to happen on a daily basis. So I did a little experiment. A few days ago I set my alarm clock five minutes earlier thant I usually do. That morning I actually got to eat breakfast at the kitchen table instead of on the bus. Just five minutes made my morning way easier.

As I thought over this experience later I realized how much this could help us all be less stressed. The more I thought about it the more it made sense. The more time we allow ourselves to do things the less stressed we are when we don’t have to crunch a ten minute task into a two minute time period. Assuming that I don’t normally encounter a day where I absolutely cannot drag myself out of bed in the morning, I will start setting my alarm five minutes earlier to put less stress on myself. What if everyone else did this too? I think that everyone could be a lot less stressed if we did this. Think about it, when we really get stressed it is because we don’t have enough time to do something. If you have an incomplete homework assignment it is because you didn’t have time to finish it (or because you are a slacker). You are late and you needed ten minutes to finish wrapping the birthday present. Just allow yourself a little more time by not packing your schedule to the brim and you will probably be a lot happier.

Haha. Sure. That is way easier said than done, but seriously if you choose what to fill your day with and say no to a few things then we could all be much happier; the people who are the victims of car crashes due to speeders and those of us who just need more time.