A Little Time Costs Nothing
We get 24 hours in a day. For most of us a quarter of that time is spent sleeping. that leaves 18 hours of productivity. We choose to fill that time with work, family, friends, maybe eating. But, lets be honest, most of us spend the majority of our time just wasting time. I do it, you do it. We all do it. Playing games, iPad, iPhone, Facebook, Twitter, Tinder, Tumblr, Fumblr. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Amazon Not so prime (aka reading)
We waste so much of our 18 hours just wasting time. I’m not accusing. I do it too. And because we waste so much time, we often feel rushed because we feel we have so little time. Or, for some of us, looking and feeling busy is the rush we desire. I think I already wrote on this topic, maybe not, but looking busy has become a personality trait for many. I’m funny, he’s athletic, She’s always busy. (Or he’s always busy, not to judge) We rush around and we don’t have time for simple things.
I’m not talking about family, friends, watching birds and smelling flowers. Those things are cute, but the simple things I’m talking about are as follows:
1: Putting your shopping cart back in the return area. And I’m not talking about leaving it in the general area, barely touching the one in front of it, but still hanging out in the parking lot. I mean pushing it all the way down the chute and possibly even slamming it into the back of the previous one so they all lock together. It’s so tacky and annoying when I’m returning my cart and I cant even get it into the chute because everyone has just left a pile. So busy they just couldn’t give it a good shove. Who does this affect. First of all, me! Secondly the guys and girls making minimum wage fetching these carts. They should be able to hook them up in a little train and return them. Instead they spend most of their time having to push them all together. Which breaks their backs and leaves more and more shopping cart mess in the parking lot. And if you are the person who leaves your cart in the parking space next to you…. I’m coming for you!
2: Saying hello to the Walmart greeter. (This also applies to Target, Home Depot, and any other shopping center or market that employs someone usually elderly or disabled to say hello and make you feel welcome) Saying hello costs no energy and takes no time. They say hello, you say hello. Maybe smile, but its not required. Of course, I’ve lived in places where if someone says hello to you on the street, there’s a pretty good chance you are going to be leaving with less money. But, I can 99.9% assure you the Walmart greeter isn’t going to mug you or swindle you into buying them a new car. Just say hello.
3: Cleaning up the mess you made on or around your table at a restaurant. I’ve eaten with kids, and they can be messy. I’ve eaten with adults, and they can be messy. I get it. You’re having a great time eating and celebrating and throwing your bread up in the air and sometimes things will fall to the floor. But, if you are able to pick up your fork, napkin, onion ring, or 4 month old baby, that would be a great help to the servers and busboys so they don’t have to climb under the table. And if they aren’t the cleaning type so the next customer doesn’t have to step on your fork, napkin, onion ring, or 4 month old baby. It doesn’t take that much time and it’s a great help.
4: Putting clothes back on the hanger at a store. Many places employ armies whose entire job it is to put clothes away. But, you know there are other places where an hour after opening it looks like a tornado came through and knocked every article of clothing off its hanger and onto the floor or draped over the rack. It’s a disaster for the employees and future shoppers. I won’t say I’m the biggest fan of hanging up clothes, but how much time and energy does it really take to notice a shirt is the wrong size and to put it back on the hanger it came off of? This also applies to folded clothes, but I would recommend having a PhD in Foldology first.
Yes, we are busy. Some days are more rushed that others. But, if you take a little extra time to help a fellow man or woman, the world might be just a little nicer.
So Tired
Doesn’t being tired absolutely stink?
And it always seems to come at the wrong time. We are never tired when all we want to do is fall asleep on the couch. I doubt many of us have woken up refreshed in the morning and thought “I think I will pass out in my recliner around 3 today” Being tired is something that just happens when we want or need to be at our most active.
You have a long day of chopping wood and yard work ahead of you and that is when you wake up with a crick in your neck and feeling like the cat slept on your face. When you know you have a long paper to research for and write is when you suddenly can’t keep your eyes open. And for some reason when I finally got a chance to watch “The Avengers” I needed to start and stop it two times because I kept drifting off. But when my wife is watching “Drop Dead Diva”, that is when I am wide awake. So unfair!
I suffer from chronic autoimmune disorder that causes me a lot of pain and causes me to sleep all night and still feel beaten in the morning. I push through, however, I won’t let it get me down and I put all my energy into my work. But that means when I get home, all I want to do is collapse. I lack much of a social life because the thought of not being close to my bed frightens me. (Ok, maybe not frightens, but I like to have the option to go to bed when the need arises) PS.. don’t think I am narcoleptic. I’m not falling down tired, I just sometimes lack the energy to do much else.
The key to my survival is to make a plan and stick to it. When I know I have things to do, even if I feel like a slug, I do what I got ta do. That way my mind can be occupied and the little voice in my head that tells me to rest is pushed to the back. I tell people I am like a freight train. I move forward at a powerful pace, because if I stop moving my wheels might rust. True story.
But I still advise everyone to know their limits. If the train runs out of fuel, there is not much you can do. So, eat three solid meals and get exercise.
(When did this turn into an advice blog? I must be drifting)
In closing, being tried stinks.
Now it’s time to take a nap.
The Mind of Jed 