In the spring we turn the clocks ahead and in the fall we turn the clocks back. This year was a little different. most of us in Connecticut might as well have turned the clocks back 100 years. Snowstorms in October are unusual to start with. Storms that do this much damage are extraordinary. Such began life without power for more than a week. The picture to the left is of my daughter walking down our street. Normally this road has 10-15 feet of grass on either side before the trees. As you can see trees from both sides are completely bent over into the street. It literally took hours to just get down the street. The next day I had to go 10 miles north in order to go south to work. A 40 minute drive took almost 3 hours driving around trees and over power lines. This more or less set the tone for the next week and a half.
A New Perspective
So what does this have to do with escaping the 9 to 5? One of the biggest challenges in trying to make a major life change like replacing your job is moving away from the habits that are part of your current day to day routine. Enter a major snow storm and regular daily activities like checking emails, watching TV and even showering disappear. Daily activities are quickly replaced with things like finding water, waiting in gas lines, and trying to stay warm. So having survived almost 2 weeks without internet or phone access, what does that mean for the long term? Rather than letting those previous activities fill back into their usual place, I’m trying to plug other things into those time slots. Granted I’m still dealing with cleanup, but it’s a start. If you are stuck thinking you can’t do without TV or the internet, you can. Higher priorities will push them to the backburner in the blink of an eye – or a snowstorm as the case may be. It’s too bad that we often wait until a disaster strikes before we look at our priorities. Whatever gets you headed in the right direction just remember that short of survival, how you spend your time is up to you. Make the most of it.
