I had several deadlines, I could have cancelled the vacation and worked. I didn’t, and part of the reason was the threat of bodily harm from friends and coworkers.
Have I mentioned 2018 was a trying year? It was intense. On one hand I prefer to have work to do vs. the alternative. On the other hand, I’d like some balance. I took 3 vacation days the entire year. I get 3 weeks, thankfully I can carry it over. The overnighters at work and numerous 50-60-hour weeks lead to, well, let’s say emotionally unstable moments I’d like back. The overload took a toll on my physical, mental and emotional health.
There were good times too, several weddings, good times with friends and family, birthday parties, Christmas pageant, and King Condrell’s ice cream. Unfortunately, the craziness won.
Looking back, what can I learn? Spending most of the year working is not fun. Every time one deadline was met, several were missed or pushed back. I felt like I was living Ecclesiastes.
1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”
3 What does man gain from all his labor
at which he toils under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever
Ecclesiastes 1:1-4 NIV
Life, as is was, was meaningless. Thankfully, 2018 ended. I still have deadlines, but I have made a promise to myself that 2019 is not going to be like 2018. There is more to life than work. So far this year, as a start, I am trying to limit working on weekends to give myself a break. We have also hired additional staff at work so I don't have to do it all.
Edgar Albert Guest Wrote the poem Tomorrow, it’s been taped to my desk since I heard Alister Begg quote it in a sermon years ago. I need to pay it more attention and remember the word as 2019 unfolds. Tomorrow may not come.
He was going to be all that a mortal should be
Tomorrow.
No one should be kinder or braver than he
Tomorrow.
A friend who was troubled and weary he knew,
Who'd be glad of a lift and who needed it, too;
On him he would call and see what he could do
Tomorrow.
Each morning he stacked up the letters he'd write
Tomorrow.
And thought of the folks he would fill with delight
Tomorrow.
It was too bad, indeed, he was busy today,
And hadn't a minute to stop on his way;
More time he would have to give others, he'd say
Tomorrow.
The greatest of workers this man would have been
Tomorrow.
The world would have known him, had he ever seen
Tomorrow.
But the fact is he died and he faded from view,
And all that he left here when living was through
Was a mountain of things he intended to do
Tomorrow.
