Early, Late or On Time

Early, Late or On-Time ~~ Two Okay, so what does the culture we live in have to say in answer to yesterday's question, "why are some people always on time or early and others always late? Does it really matter?"Here are a few things that I discovered about the different ways people conceptualize time:1. One person described the chronically late as "Time Optimist." I could immediately relate, because the time optimist will always plan to do in 5 minutes what it takes 20 minutes to do. Go figure that one! (1)2. Some "Time Optimists" don't want to miss out on anything and are absolutely convinced they can somehow be here and there at the same time. "They always leave all their options open and squeeze the maximum out of living fully in the moment every minute they've got, THEN make the mad dash to arrive just in time" (2) (Which usually means they're a little bit late). :)3. "It's easy to conclude that the chronically late don't value other people's time as much as their own; however, it's the opposite that's actually a lot closer to the truth. (Or just as true). It's their OWN time they don't value...Being late always starts every meeting, or appointment off on the wrong foot. The late person begins with a handicap, and thus presents themselves as less than who they are. Backpedaling and apologies ensue, or they try and justify or defend their lateness. Shame, ineffectiveness, resentment etc. etc..."(3)4. Opposite of the "Time Optimist" is the "Time Pessimist" She is always on time because she assumes it will always take her longer to do what she has to do than it actually does. They never underestimate the amount of time it takes to do something because they figure it will take longer. They often value their time and the time of others to the extent that they are often early arrivers.I don't want to linger here too long because I have bigger eggs to fry and I think you get the point, so I'll move on. What's the bottom line here? With the big picture in view, does being on time really matter? I absolutely think it does! The Lord established time and everything in time has a season, a place to be, to grow, etc. And there is an order to all of it. Nothing God does or did happened randomly, or accidentally. God has no "oops!" or "I forgot" or "Sorry I'm late, I got stuck in traffic moments." There is purpose and meaning to everything we do and all the choices that we make. Until tomorrow...Stephanie Paul serves on our Addiction Recovery Ministry Team

1 http://thesocialage.com/blog/2008/01/16/why-are-some-people-always-late/2 http://www.steveshapiro.com/2007/04/03/how-to-always-be-on-time/3 http://thesocialage.com/blog/2008/01/16/why-are-some-people-always-late/