Number Your Days

I keep a countdown in my planner. I have a countdown on the board. The first countdown is for my senior classes and when they leave high school (49 school days as of today), I revert it to the rest of my classes, consisting of juniors (who have 14 more school days past their counterparts in the senior class, taking them to 63 days) . I also know that there are exactly 3,774 days between today, March 1st, and July 1st, 2035. That's the day that I can take a full retirement from teaching. Sounds like I'm wishing time away, doesn't it? I'm not. Consider the change in your mindset if you would stop thinking of the passage of time as "days," and begin to think of them as "chances."

Psalm 90 tells us, "Teach me to number my days that I might gain a heart of wisdom." You've been told to never, never wish time away...and I would agree with that wholeheartedly. But I would always be mindful of time, its passage, and how you're spending your days. Because time, dear reader, is the most valuable of all currencies. There really is wisdom in numbering our "chances," isn't there? You can always make more money...one thing that you can't make more of is time.

Here's what I'm all about. I am here to make as big an impact as I possibly can. I'm here to throw joy around like confetti. I'm here to be a tour guide to wonderful things in literature. I'm here to hearten my colleagues, gladden the hearts of children, be a helpmate to my husband and a strong support for my sisters and their families.

When my own tank is low, I make deposits into it by going to places which contribute to its filling back up again. I go to the ocean. I go to the mountains. But I also go to the kitchen tables of my family and friends, to spend time in their presence and to learn from them. I sit on my front porch and wave to my neighbors, exchanging pleasantries with them and petting their dogs. I spend time in my own kitchen, creating foods that I know will be given away for the nourishment of both bodies and souls of my neighbors, colleagues, family and friends. And this is the way that I number my days.

If you feel alone and isolated, perhaps the way to remedy what your own body and soul needs is to begin to shift your mindset into chances. What are you doing with your most valuable currency? How are you spending your time? I would say that if you want to improve this life, this race that you run, number your days. And gain a more wise heart.

Journey on, friends!