Falling Back to Sleep

An exciting annual event will be taking place this weekend that will bring excitement into the humdrum lives of many people. What is this wonderful thing that is going to happen? The end of Daylight Savings Time and the beginning of the last week of October. Don't forget to reset your clocks this weekend as we gain an extra hour of daylight on Sunday morning. That means that all of the sleep deprived people out there will receive the benefit of a whole hour extra of sleep. That is unless it is wasted by staying up an hour later than normal on Saturday night...

This is the final time that the clocks will be set back in October. Beginning next year, Daylight Savings Time will begin the second Sunday in March, instead of the normal April, and will run longer than normal as it continues all the way to the first Sunday in November. Why, it may be asked, is this dramatic change going to occur? Why the attempt to confuse the traditions of time? It was decided by in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 passed by the United States Congress and then signed into law that an experiment would be conducted beginning in 2007 in which Daylight Savings Time would be extended in an effort to decrease energy consumption. If the experiment turns out to be failure and the American population continues to use up energy at its current rate, the Congress has the ability to reset the times back to their original schedule as implemented back in 1986.

Until March, enjoy the extra hour!

Carpe Diem

There is always a fear of the unknown. I would have to say that one of my biggest fears--even bigger than my fears of fire, ladybugs, and spiders--is the fear of possible failure. When I have an opportunity to do something, I always have a voice in the back of my head asking me all sorts of scary "what if" questions, such as "What if I sound stupid?", "What if I can't do what is asked of me?", or "What if I make someone mad?". It is a paralyzing voice that keeps me from seizing the moment and making the most of my life. One of the best quotes I have heard recently was "Better to have tried and failed than to have failed to try." I am not sure who said it, but it is something I have been thinking a lot about lately. I cannot go through life afraid of doing things and holding myself back from a fulfilled life just because I am afraid of failure. There are so many possibilities that are just waiting for me if I just let myself try, fail or not. I will never know the what the results would have been and be continuously regretting not taking advantage of the situation given me with new "what if" questions coursing through my brain: "What if I had done it?", "What if I hadn't waited so long?", "What if I had seized the opportunity?". I am not saying that I should be rash and rush into doing things without giving any thought to the outcome, not at all. I am merely saying that I should not hold myself back due to irrational fears that have more to do with my pride than anything else. I need to learn to seize the day.

Like a Phoenix

Yes, I know it has been just about exactly two months since I last wrote here on my blog, and for that I am very sorry. More to come later...