Wishing Away Days

Don’t waste life in doubts and fears; spend yourself on the work before you, well assured that the right performance of this hour’s duties will be the best preparation for the hours and ages that will follow it. Ralph Waldo Emerson

I had a great conversation the other day with my friend Annette. I was trying to tease her about the approaching start of school. She’s still teaching math to middle school adolescents, while this will be the first year since age five that I’ll be purposely doing something other than returning to school.

watching_the_clockShe made the teasing difficult. As I reminded her that I won’t be reporting for duty in about three weeks, she replied that she felt pretty fortunate. “I like the people I work with, my boss lets me do my job, and I have mostly really good kids.”

What a great attitude. We so frequently view our work as necessary evil, an interruption to the otherwise worthwhile, enjoyable things we’d be doing if only we didn’t “have to work.” Even when a job is meaningful and rewarding, there seems to be a cultural requirement that tells us we’re not supposed to admit liking our work.

Reducing the amount of time spent on the job almost becomes an obsession. We plan elaborate vacations to escape from work and do what we really want to do. Retirement planning becomes a lifestyle. The sooner we can retire and quit working, the sooner we can start enjoying life.

That’s why Annette’s comment seemed so refreshing. She’s doing what she wants to do right now, and she’s finding current reasons to appreciate her colleagues and her opportunities. That doesn’t mean she has the perfect job or works with perfect people—she doesn’t. We occupied adjacent classrooms for several years and shared some of those frustrating days that come along in any profession.

I recall another conversation from a few years ago. I encountered another colleague, Don, and said something like, “Man, I wish it was Friday.”

He stopped for a moment, then responded, “I’m getting too old to wish away any days.” Don’s statement impacted my perspective from that day forward, and it’s not just true for old guys like me. We’re all too old to wish away any days.

 I wonder how many folks choose to regard their occupation as required drudgery to be escaped as soon as possible? How many days, weeks, and years are wished away while we wait to really begin living?

There’s no perfect profession or perfect boss. That’s especially true if you’re self-employed. And surely some environments are so toxic that we need to move on.

But I want to keep Annette’s perspective in the front of my pea-sized brain. I want to remember that each Monday is a day I’ll never have again and that I don’t want to wish it away. I want to remember that I can’t control circumstances, but I can always direct my attitude.

I hope you don’t wish away any days this week, because each of those days is a gift from God. I hope we’ll all do something extraordinary with our days.

We waste time looking for the perfect lover, instead of creating the perfect love.

Do you ever wish away days?

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