I have borrowed the title of this commentary from one of my favourite Simon and Garfunkel songs – „A Hazy Shade of Winter”, because I feel it reflects one of the most common stances that people hold today.


How many times have you said to yourself the following phrases: „I don’t have the time! I am so busy! There is no way I can handle this!” I must confess, I have been saying these phrases more often than not in the past few months. Yes, I have had a very busy period, but was it really the fault of „time”? Was my fatigue really caused by an objective force that moves us all around like helpless pawns on a chessboard? It’s as if people are saying „Look, Time, see what you’ve done? I can’t handle this; I am completely powerless. See what’s become of me! I am tired, irritated, and ill. It’s your fault!“ That is certainly what I felt like, but upon pausing and stepping back, I realised that it was quite the opposite.

I recently took a course in Planning and Organising (an area that is one of my greatest weaknesses). Not only did I gain knowledge about some very valuable time management tools, I was also reminded about the simple fact that life is not only about work and money – far from it! In order to function properly (and actually manage to do more), one must keep in mind that there are “three pillars” in life – work, health, relationships/ friends/family – and one must plan to cover all of these areas in their schedules. Otherwise, the psychological state of burnout will most likely rear its ugly head. I think that we can agree upon the fact that this is not desirable. In the course, we were reminded that each of us has 168 hours a week, and that it is up to us how we take care of these „talents” – do we bury them, or do we multiply them?

It is certainly nothing new to say that each one of us only has a limited amount of time on this beautiful earth. As Christians, we can also realise that this time is God’s gift to us, and so all of our planning and time management should also reflect this fact. I believe that we should not only use our time wisely, but use it to give thanks to our Lord, and to help spread his Glory. When I recently fell ill, I realised that this was my greatest ailment, that I had forgotten about this basic blessing. I realised that I might be burying my talents. Thankfully, we have the activities of the YMCA to help us “dig them up”, and to use our time wisely. I urge you to remember this the next time that you go to Ten Sing, the next time you go camping, the next time you exercise, the next time that you think of the Y… Advent is quickly approaching; I hope that you might take these thoughts to heart and press the “pause” button in time. Take a deep breath, step back, and give thanks!

So, to continue in our allusion to Matthew, I end with a quote to keep in mind these hazy autumn days: Watch therefore, for ye know not the day, nor the hour (Mat 25:13).

Vocabulary

stance – postoj

hold a stance – mít postoj

more often than not – velice často

pawns on a chessboard – pěšci na šachovnici

It’s your fault – je to Tvoje (Vaše) vina

far from it – zdaleka ne

rear its ugly head – doslova: Zvednout svou ošklivou

hlavu, používá se pro popis negativních jevů

talents – zde biblicky: hřivny

dig up – vykopat

hazy – mlhavé

Tamara Anne Smelíková