Oh My Gosh!

When I drop inside to write, it is silent, quiet, almost serene, except for the anxiety of what to write now that I am on the clock!  “Whose clock,” you ask, “Yours or Allah’s?”  Both!  His clock is not one I can read or set or adjust.  His timing is His alone.  My clock on the other hand is one I set.  “I am going riding tomorrow at 9AM, or to yoga Monday, Wednesday & Friday also at 9AM.” And I have found  I can be on time places.  And I have finally—not finally—nothing is ever finally until Allah calls time; but I have finally learned what is required to get places, any place, on time. Amazing!  I have not been able to do this most of my life but now it seems there is a prescription--always add an extra 15 minutes before departure for the “oh my goshes.”  You know, the “I was supposed to take some flyers with me” or the “where are my keys, wallet, purse, phone, etc?  Or how about all the things you take with you out to the car which takes time to gather and then to carry:  the recycling, the yoga mat, the water bottle, the dry cleaning and the cup of coffee.  And what if it rains, do you need your umbrella?

So it takes an extra 15 minutes for the “oh my goshes” and then the time you figured it takes to drive to your destination will actually work.  But if you forget the “oh my goshes” in your planning, you will be 10 minutes late—every time.

And so, my advice to you, dear self, is plan an extra 15 minutes into every trip; otherwise the “oh my goshes” will come back to haunt you, as the flashing lights of a police cruiser in your rear view mirror calls your attention to the abundance of speed at which you are driving to make up for lost time: “Oh My Gosh 75 in a 55!”  That’s going to hurt a lot worse than leaving that news article half read on the kitchen table in order to get out the door on time.