The Value of Time

Our lay-leader read this to the congregation during Rosh Hashanah. I thought it was worthy of passing on

The Value of Time

Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400.
It carries over no balance from day to day.
Every evening deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day.
What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course!
Each of us has such a bank. Its name is TIME.
Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds.
Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose.
It carries over no balance.
It allows no overdraft.
Each day it opens a new account for you.
Each night it burns the remains of the day.
If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours.
There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow".
You must live in the present on today's deposits.
Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success!
The clock is running. Make the most of today.
To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a pre-mature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE DAY, ask a daily wage laborer with kids to feed.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident.
To realize the value of ONE MILLI-SECOND, ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.
Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time.
And remember that time waits for no one.
Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow a mystery.
Today is a gift.
That's why it's called the present!

Where i've been...

What am I doing tonight? Since the bell rang at 3 this afternoon I have taken my daughter to PT, weighed in at WW (down 46 lbs!), went to conferences at the high school, and am in the midst of sifting through IEP information and test adaptations. Sounds like the the school year!
I am back to 6 hours of sleep averaged per night. It is hard to fit everything into one day. By the time you switch your "hat" from teacher to parent and back to teacher in the evening the day stretches to its limits.
Mind you I am not whining. I have chosen this path. I LOVE what I do. My students make me smile each day. Watching their progress makes the hours worth while. And my family? Of course, my life would be nothing without them! Granted, having a husband that travels out of town almost 3 out of every 4 weeks makes life a bit more challenging, I would not change a thing. I will survive. At least if I have a steady stream of Diet Pepsi!
So, I sit here at my kitchen table at 10:08 pm "taking a break".
I would like to hear from you...what is your typical day like? What makes it worth while?

Your Pal,
Lori

Flip Video Offer

I love my Flip Video camera. I take it everywhere I go. I get excited thinking where I might use it. My best example was on the last day of school. We were completing field day and I thought it would be fun for my student in a power wheel chair to show what it is like cruising down the hallway. The result was a view of students who may not realize the need for a handicap ramp to be clear. Also the tendency to not listen to someone saying "excuse me". What I learned from this is the power of spontaneous. I captured a moment in time that may impact future decisions. Or, at the least I have a moment in time of a very brave young man.

What is the reason for this post? It is actually an offer I found online for a $50 Flip Video Ultra. The price is normally over $125. So, if this is ligit...join in the fun!

1/100th of a second

After watching 2 swim races at the Beijing Olympics I cannot get past the thought how the technology we have today has impacted daily life.

Just 4 years ago I am sure there would have been some head scratching trying to figure out if the races were a tie or declare a winner with the chance of protest. Even the speed at which replays occur most likely have improved.

Now to my point. What part of our daily lives could be changed if we were aware of each 1/100th second. Would that be a good or bad thing? Would 1/100th of a second make us feel that we have made the most of the time we have with our loved ones? Hmmm....

So there you have it. My thought for today.

Tradition

It is 12:19 am on July 29, 2008. What the heck am I doing up? That's a great question. Could it be my husband is out of town which means he is not hear to remind me to go to bed? Is it because my 19 year old daughter was sent a platinum Visa card with a massive credit limit? Maybe because it is because I just spoke to my father in Las Vegas?

That is it! I talked to my dad. So, why does this keep me up? I think it is because talking to him made me think about "tradition". Still wondering about the connection? I will tell you. It is because my father brags that he has 5 daughters just like Tevye in Fiddler On The Roof! How many can say that?

The whole tradition thought process led me down the path of thinking what kind of traditions am I passing down to my children (and possibly others as well). Wow, that is heavy stuff. No wonder it is so late.

I know I have instilled a sense of faith, right and wrong, fair play, acceptance of differences, etc. But is that enough? What am I missing? Is there ever enough? That is what keeps me up tonight...

Now I sit here and listen to the Broadway soundtrack of Fiddler (really!) and wonder if I will get any sleep in the next few hours.

So for now, think about what traditions you may pass down...are they the ones you want?