Editorial: Responsibility, pending salary salvation

I’m sitting outside on a cold October day, making a crude attempt at being productive while still participating in my family’s fishing trip to a cottage that we make every thanksgiving. It isn’t working. I should be click-clacking away, but the truth is, that last phrase took me ten minutes to write. So, instead of click-clacking on my keyboard, I’m click-slacking on my mouse. Instead of poll-stats, I’m browsing lolcats, losing my creative vibe and getting myself stuck in-between family fun and getting stuff done. It’s chilly, and my skin is balling up at the hairs like the down-robbed turkey on the table beside me. I’m cold because rather than holing myself up in a room alone to finish my mountain of coursework, I’ve plugged in outside to make an attempt to be with my family and be productive at the same time. I’m feeling another kind of chill, though; it’s frosting my bones like a walk to school in a thin sweater – too much to simply forget about, but not enough to make you turn around and grab a coat. It’s that responsibility bug, the one that keeps each of your worries on rotation; money, school, grades, employment, relationships, and Halo stats – and they’re all urgent enough that when they come up on the rotisserie, you think about them.

We all know we shouldn’t worry; God says himself in scripture, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father provides them with a tank of gas weekly” - or, something like that (as the lolcats would say, ‘im in ur newzpapr, contextualizin’). For some reason, despite all the good sense telling us that God is our bridge over troubled water, and all of these worries will soon be water under the bridge, we still seem to hold on to that shaky feeling that it won’t be okay; that no matter how hard we work, we won’t get a job, we won’t get our papers done in time, and they’ll be ful of typpos.

Here’s my theory – and it has put my mind temporarily at ease almost every time – soon, there will come a major event when everything will fall into place. Even though that isn’t true, it still calms me down for a short time. I stopped stressing over a speeding ticket when I promised myself never to go faster than 20 over again. I once thought that I would probably do all of my readings when I was in my second – no, third – no, fourth year. I once thought that when my career finally depends on it, I’ll get my projects done ahead of time, and not the night before.

But I can rest my mind once again, because I know for certain that when I finally get paid for my work at a real job, I’ll start scheduling my workload better. I’ll be getting out of debt, and I’ll be on the road to responsibility. My salary will be my savior.

…right?

In my experience, making new plans and hoping for something to come along and kick you in the pants doesn't work.  Sometimes, you just have to get the work done.  If you're like me, you think that someday you'll have a perfectly laid out schedule, you'll treat school like a 9-5 job, and get all of your work done in time to spend your evenings relaxing a little.  What I really need to do instead is get things done my way: jumping from task to task, making a mess of the living room, and letting a little panic set me in motion.  Tearing through my work in the nick of time like it's Helter-Skelter may appear foolish, but thinking I'll someday be perfect without taking small steps first is just plain dumb.  Maybe If I get a good habit or two developed this year, I won't need an epiphany when I start my career!

One last word of advice: while it is never too late to start, start taking the steps to be responsible right away!

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