Tyranny of the Urgent (part 1)

~adapted from article by Charles E. Hummel

ever wished for a day with more than 24hours? mei & i did (though she said she cant remb saying it). haha. maybe.. 40 hours will be good. well, cannot? how about 35? or 30? that'll give me say 10hours to sleep (luxury sia) and remaining 20hours to do other stuff.. wont that be cool?

like it or not, a day equals to 24hours. no more, no less. to the rich or to the poor, it is the same (God is fair. =p). for many of us, our lives leave a trail of unfinished tasks.. everyday, things seem to gush in more and more.. as we stop to ponder, time doesnt stop ticking. we have bills to pay, work to be done, clients to entertain, a home to manage, kids to be taken care of (i havent reached any of these stages yet =p).. then there's the 'i wish i had time to do my-favourite-thing-list': letters to answer, friends we're not met for ages, books to read, time to just sit down & relax.. will having additional time really solve the problem? greater experience and achievement brings more challenging and exacting assignments. wouldn't we fall back to square one with our human nature and tendencies: wouldn't we soon find ourselves complaining that there's a lack of time as with our current 24 allotment?

when we put ourselves to complete the task at hand, no matter what or how long it takes, we know at the end of the day, we can pat ourselves on the back well done. even if it's just the effort (though i cant say this for everyone - esp those who measure success with results - me guilty at times too). the winds of other pple's demands (& expectations of ourselves) drives us up the wall sometimes. feeling all so alone & frustrated. why cant pple see the good in me? why cant they understand what i'm doing? we become slaves to ourselves.. leaving the things which we ought to do undone; yet doing the things we ought not to have done.. life is strange isn't it? an irony by itself..

we live in constant struggle to do what that needs to be done and what that can be left undone. so often the line btwn is oh-so-grey.. no, i'm not implying that we shld adopt the 'bo chap' (simply don't bother) attitute nor shld we freak out over the littlest details in life. important stuff like reading the Bible or calling a friend to encourage can wait.. extra hours (hours?!?? have i gone out of my mind?? minutes more like it..) of prayers or spending time with your loved ones rarely must be done today or even this week. urgent and more pressing things like getting a contract, closing a case, finishing up a project, catching up on a tv serial or playing computer games (impt to some ok?) demand our undivided attention every hour, every day. in a world of paper chase and the fittest survive, it is no wonder we have become slaves to the tyranny of the urgent..