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BY GLENN MOLLETTE
2022 will be over almost quicker than you can say Happy New Year! Just look how fast 2021 sped by us all. Time rarely feels as if it’s standing still unless we are waiting on something to happen. Time only drags when we need something to happen like a cure for a disease, a job to open or a relative to come home. When time drags, we make the mistake of wishing it away.
We only have a little bit of time. We all have the same in a day, a week or a year. Every year that we live we are extended the same number of days and minutes. We do all kinds of things with time. We waste time, kill time, try to make up time, lose track of time or don’t pay attention to time. Regardless of how we treat time it’s only doing one thing moving swiftly through the hourglass one grain or second at a time.
I’m thankful for time. I’m grateful for time with my wife and each family member. I’m grateful for this moment to sit here and type a few words out on my keyboard. I suppose one of my problems is how do I fit all I want to do into my time? I guess I enjoy doing too much. If I only enjoyed doing one or two things then my time spent might be a little easier. Each day and moment I would simply devote my full attention to one particular aspect of life. Actually, that might not be a bad idea. Could I devote 24 hours a day to my family? I could, but they really don’t want me in their hair 24/7. I could devote 24 hours a day to prayer and reading the Bible or reading other good books. But then, I don’t want to be an isolated religious person who never enjoys this incredible world or people. I could devote 24 hours a day to my educational work and do a lot of the work that others do. However, institutions are stronger and better when the work is spread around to others. I could spend more time simply writing books or pursuing other hobbies I enjoy.
Somehow, we have to determine what is best. I heard about this farmer who hired a man to sort potatoes. The man’s job was to put the bad potatoes in one pile, the good potatoes in another pile and the best potatoes in another pile. The man agreed to the job. At the end of the day the farmer came to see how his new employee was doing and he had not done anything. He was simply standing looking back and forth at two potatoes. The farmer bewildered asked? “Why haven’t you done what I asked you to do?” The hired man responded, “I just can’t decide between the good and the best potatoes.”
Our dilemma in 2022 may not be in deciding between good and bad but between good and best. There are a lot of good things we can do with our time in 2022. Using our time to do the best things may be our most difficult decision.
(Glenn Mollette writes on mostly conservative and rural issues. He is the author of 12 books. His articles appear each week in over 500 newspapers, websites, and blogs.)