When is enough ENOUGH?

It is entirely too easy to allow one's self to become tied up in the phenomenon of doing.

As I was wrapping up my night tonight (yes, it's about 1am now-ignore the posting time, it's wrong), I was thinking about how I wish I didn't always find myself "doing work" until late-or early-hours into the morning.

I mean, one would think, that with only three classes and a handful of extra-curricular organizations that a young girl would NOT need to be up until 1am doing work!

I believe, my problem is, that I don't know when to stop. I could easily have stopped doing work when I returned from the gym this evening at 9:30pm. I could have easily decided to spend time with my roommates, watching TV, knowing that I have only one class at 1pm tomorrow and have plenty of time beforehand to complete work, yet-I made a different choice.

Instead, I chose to spend an hour or so working on the proposal of a senior thesis. I spent time sending emails, making phone calls, organizing my planner, reading for class, etc, etc, etc, until I find that I'm sitting here at 1am STILL wondering of what I can complete before I am too tired that I can only pass out when permitting my head to hit the pillow.

When is enough enough?

One of my frustrations about the school year is the notion of knowing that "there will always be more work that I can do." Whether it be readings, papers, preparing for tests, organizing my schedule, re-organizing my schedule-I always will have "busy work" that can consume my time-up to 1am and beyond! What I'm beginning to realize is that just because I'll always have work that can last me up until this late hour doesn't mean I have to try and fill those time slots with work. In fact, I'd prefer not too. (Isn't it ironic how we discover these realizations in our senior year?)

During orientation, I heard a speaker talk about the importance of time management. In her lecture, the speaker talked about "Joe," a football player who was perceived to "always be out" every evening. In fact, he was out so much that when he made the Dean's List his first semester, his friends asked him how he managed to hack the computer files to change his grades (disbelieving that he ever studied). To his friends' surprise, Joe shared how he spent the sporadic hours that he had in the morning and throughout his day to complete his work so that he could spend time hanging out with friends in the evening.

Brilliant.

I want to be just like Joe.

Knowing that this semester is one of the last chances that I have to truly work on the friendships that I've been blessed with here at Albright, I want to take as many opportunities as possible to meet my friends where they're at and share life with them. I don't want my evenings to be consumed with school-work, but with conversations and memories of individuals who matter far more greatly than do grades on a paper.

That's a harder reality to swallow than it is to type. You see, my aspiration to be like Joe isn't about the importance of time-management, it's about the reality of prioritizing work verses people.

Am I more passionate about serving my school-work?

Or am I more passionate about serving people?

I know my answer.

I pray that now, I can show it.

Watch out Joe, you're not the only one who plans to be out this semester while making the Dean's List. :)