No Time To Live

The boy was walking to the store to get something for his mother. When he was about a hundred feet from the front door of the store he scratched his head and wondered what it was that his mother wanted.

How many times does this happen to us? It seems that we have so much on our minds each moment of each day that we would “forget our own name” if someone didn’t repeat it to us from time to time.

Why should we have so much to think about when life is really quite simple? We get up in the morning. We have our breakfast and then go off to school or work taking the same route each day. We know exactly how long it will take for us to get there. At work we have a routine that we are to perform each day. We know our jobs so well, in fact, we could do it blindfolded. At the end of the workday we get into our cars and drive home.

When we get home it is normally time for supper, so we wash up and sit to eat. The only thing that is different on the table is the choice of food that our spouse has prepared. We try to vary the choice of food we eat each day in order to have a little variety. We enjoy certain types of food and we enjoy the way in which it is prepared.

It really doesn’t matter what we do each day, we believe that we have to do it fast and perfect. This is often an impossible thing to accomplish because we’re just not given enough time to do the job right; or at least we think we don’t. I know several people who have so many things to do each day that they sometimes wish that they had forty-eight hour a day to do it in. They hope that they may have enough time left over to get a proper amount of sleep. The result is stress and eventually depression and burn out.

I think that the high pace of living is something that we have generated for ourselves. We do have the time each day to do our jobs. We do have the time to do it right and produce the perfect product that we are expected to produce. We only have to properly plan out the necessary steps and the way we want to do it. If we take a look at the amount of time that the boss has given us to do a job, we realize that it is enough. We are really the one who has the time problem. It seems that we just don’t know how to schedule our time and how to think logically one step at a time.

Thinking is a skill that we all have, but being able to think in a linear fashion in order to accomplish the goal is sometimes a problem. We know that it takes a certain number of steps to design a product and then manufacture it. We know that it will require certain types of materials and processes. We are then expected to put together a plan that will bring together all of the steps that will accomplish the goal. You do get the job done and in the time allowed. OK. That is fine, but how many people do you know who can’t produce as well as you do? How many people do you know who can do original thinking and produce a new product? Far too many people in this world are lazy. They would rather work at a job where they don’t have to think and where they do the same thing day after day without any great change in their routine at high pay.

Maybe the real problem started for us when we were very young. Perhaps it was when we were in grade school and our teachers didn’t challenge us enough to produce the required class work and in the amount of time given. They excused us for not turning in the work when it was required. They told us “it’s OK, turn it in tomorrow”. We get into a “rut” that lasts a lifetime. Even when we start to work in industry, we don’t do the job in the time allotted and we don’t really care because the boss will forgive us and we can turn in the work the next day or even the next week or next month. Because we are not able to produce we lose our jobs and wonder why. Why did the boss have the audacity to fire me? We invariably place our problems onto someone else.

We need to think about what it is we are doing in our life. Taking the time to think and then start producing within the time limits given us. It is our responsibility to do the job and one that is expected of us. We are expected to remember what it is we are to do and get the job done right. SO what are you waiting for? You do have the time to live.