You can’t kill time without wounding eternity.
~Henry David Thoreau
As much as any of you, I feel the need to rest; I feel the pressure of school, life, and family in much the same ways you do. What I might feel more acutely is the finiteness of time. I know that todays and tomorrows come and go like leaves in a storm, and if tomorrow I see a field of white in my backyard, then I damn well better see my tracks in the snow–the smoking gun proof that I did something with my day: I need to be able to say, “Yeah, I made that snowman; I read that book, penned that poem, and sang that song.” I need to know that I cooked those meatballs, cleaned that room, and stacked that wood. I want my neighbor to come home surprised that his driveway has been shoveled; I want my wife to discover that I can actually fold clothes, and I want my kids to “see” that there is more to the day than an iPad, Xbox, and “Duck Dynasty.”
Do I want you to do some English work? Yes, I do. Open your journal and pen a few thoughts. Go to your classmate’s blogs and journals and leave some comments—make someone else’s day as well as your own. Actually figure out the comma rules. Read what you need to read. End the day with more in the do column than in the didn’t column. It is a recipe for life that works.
Leave some tracks in the snow.
Practice wisdom.
And smile.
