“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  

Matthew 6:24

In 2017, the Washington Post reported that Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) sparked “social media hashtags and viral memes when she interrupted Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s answer to her question by repeating the phrase, ‘Reclaiming my time.’” The Treasury Secretary was giving long, round about answers which was cutting into her time and she was going to have none of it.  

Maxine’s strength and fortitude has inspired me.  Time is precious and it is a limited commodity that we all have.  Once we finish the day, this day, that’s it.  That is how we have spent, and will spend, that one day of our life.  I have noticed a pattern with myself since the pandemic has begun.  I wake up early and then I lay in bed thinking about the day, or tomorrow, for about 15-20 minutes about what needs to be done.  It’s my to-do list of sorts.  When I look more closely at my thoughts, however, I can see that ‘worry’ is at the source of it.  When I woke up this morning I decided to do some math. If I spend an average of two hours a week thinking about my to-do list (i.e. worry), that’s 8 hours a month which turns out to be 96 hours a year!  When I did the math, I was shocked!  I thought that something that was small like 15 minutes a day wasn’t a big deal, but once I accounted for the accumulation you want to know what I said to myself??? “Reclaiming my time!”  I don’t have time for this.  I don’t have time to ruminate or worry or play over scenarios that are frustrating to me.  Seriously. I just don’t have this time. Imagine what I could do with an extra 96 hours a year!  Imagine what you could do with an extra 96 hours a year!  Yes indeed, I’ve got no time to worry about tomorrow, because today’s problems are sufficient in themselves.  Reclaiming my time!  And that time starts now…