Overtime… brings two trains of thought to my mind.  One comes because my husband is always talking about continuity and change over  time with his students in history.  The other comes because as a teacher, I am aware of “overtime” hours necessary for good planning and management of students and their learning.   Either way, or either spelling, it covers a lot of ground.

 At 73 years of age,  I am acutely aware of how things that were once so important have almost no importance in our lives now.  In fact, the older I get, the more I realize that relationships, especially those of family, are the most important matters of life.  As I see the obituaries of old friends in the daily newspaper, I remember times past, and I wonder if these friends left this world amid a life of satisfaction.  Then, I become extremely aware of my own life, and I wonder how long I have yet to live on this blue planet.  It does cause me to count my blessings and to stay in touch with my God daily.

I have lived long enough to have seen fads come and go, and to see a repeat of many of life’s experiences.  Yes, it resembles the pendulum swing of a huge grandfather’s clock.  Because of this repetition of experiences, I don’t get too alarmed about much.  I am more alarmed by the lack of knowledge or experience exhibited by our youth of today.  I showed them footage from NASA last week of the moon landing and the flights of that era.  They were shocked at the notion that such accomplishments involved risk to human life.  I guess they really are beginning to believe all this super hero stuff in their movies, TV, and comics.

Now, the other train of thought concerning “overtime,” brings me to the old adage, “You can be successful by only working half a day each day.  It is up to you which half you work: the first 12 hours, or the second 12 hours.”  I think we have found lots of extra time since the advent of work-saving devices, just like we were promised by the inventors.  However, we have managed to fill every single moment with activities…leaving us behind before we even begin the day!  So, I am currently finding myself becoming intolerant of having to look for things I sat down in a hurry as I rushed about my busy life!  I guess it is time for me to play more of my soft, classical music which tends to slow down my breathing patterns and hopefully, my life in general!  Kay