Daylight savings is now in the rearview mirror, but something really stuck with me over the weekend. It all started when I was scanning through Facebook, something I try desperately to not do often*. I ran across a friend of mine who liked this gem:
Funny? Yes. And I’m sure many people who are indeed fit spread it around social media as well, but it made me think about the excuses people make in general, not just when they lose one hour. For a generation that is perceived to be entitled, lazy and whatever other adjective you want to type into Google, they aren’t helping themselves by making up excuses. We live in the most amazing time and yet somehow a majority of people believe the world is out to get them and make up excuses for things that can’t possibly be done differently.
At my age it’s common for individuals to have found a suitable spouse, financed a wedding, maybe a couple of cars and finally gone deeper in debt by purchasing a house. Don’t forget the baby! I’ve avoided all of these except buying a house (I now have 3) and certainly I’ve made a few mistakes along the way, but I still am better off than a majority of my peers. I understand that this involves a lot of personal choices, but I could easily be married, own slightly newer and nicer cars and even have a baby all while continuing to add to my investment accounts. Everyone else seems to be on an elevator stopping at each floor where they are told what the next thing to do is and they aimlessly oblige.
My peers will joke about how old they will be when their student loans are finally paid off as if there is no other solution to the problem. So much could be solved with coming up with solutions instead of making excuses. What if everyone’s perception changed?
My short story starts on Sunday morning when I woke up to the laundry machine running and the sound of dishes stacking after being cleaned. I went to the kitchen only to run into Miss Quietly Crushing It hard at work. I looked around in awe at all of the things she had already accomplished. Her response was simply: “I figured since we lost an hour I had to make up for it by being more productive.”
It was a unique perspective and I can’t claim it was my own, but it struck a chord with me. Instead of complaining about losing an hour she decided to do something about it. It’s something to think about as Daylight Saving Time continues to be part of our lives twice a year. If we can make better use of our time when we lose an hour, just think what we can do when we gain an hour…and no, it’s not sleeping in an extra hour.
*I recently found out about the News Feed Eradicator for Facebook which removes the entire Facebook feed with an inspiring quote. I haven’t tried it yet, but plan to do so in the near future.
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