I have a “world clock” app on my phone, and it’s set to all eleven World Race countries. Every once in a while I’ll look at it and check what time it is in the various places I’ll be going. It’s cool to see the differences (and maybe a little less cool to anticipate the jet lag that will undoubtedly result from flying from one region of the world to another) but time complicated for other reasons.
Everybody talks about “saving time” but the fact is that you can’t really do that. You can save money by putting it a bank account, food by eating/cooking less at a time, and even battery power by turning down the brightness on your laptop, but there isn’t a jar on my desk where I can put spare minutes and cash them in when I’m frantically finishing Spanish homework the hour before it’s due. (And believe me, I wish I could.)
The gift and curse of time is that it ticks away at the same pace whether you’re writing a research paper or marathoning The Office on Netflix for the fourth time. You can use your time more efficiently, or do the high-priority things first, but there’s no real “saving” of time, no matter how many “life hacks” you try to implement. Unless I commandeer the TARDIS and rearrange past events, time exists outside of my control. (I can’t resist sneaking a Doctor Who reference into at least one of my posts. It probably won’t be the last.)
So here I am. Six months until launch and four until training camp, but what seems the most unreal is the fact that I’m just two months away from graduating college. 62 days left before I say goodbye to Enactus, Chorale, dorm life, and my status as an undergrad student. There are definitely some perks to being done: no more finals, cafeteria food, and sharing a kitchen and bathroom with 20 other girls. (Although after a month or two on the race I’ll probably look back on all of those things as luxuries.)
So what am I going to do with these 62 days? I certainly hope the answer isn’t “sit around and mope about how this the end of a big chapter of my life,” because that would be really dull. Instead of obsessing on how I’ll be far away from my friends, I’m going to spend time with them now. Instead of thinking about how I’ll be stepping down from my Enactus leadership position at the end of the year, I’ll put my focus into being the best darn Director of Marketing I can be, and training my replacement to ensure a future of team excellence. Instead of trying to figure out every detail about how to take my guitar on the Race (which is no guarantee), I should probably take it out of its case and enjoy playing it while I know I can.
One of the hardest things to do is be content where you are at any given moment, but there are only so many minutes you get, so make them count.
