Why Daylight Savings Time is Destroying the World!

Some things are a mystery to me.

Near the top of my list (sandwiched in between no one realizing the special sauce on a Big Mac might just be Thousand Island dressing and why aliens only abduct people who have appeared on an episode of Cops) is what happens to the hour of daylight savings time that magically disappears.

Poof. Its gone and no one ever talks about it or brings it up even though we all know it happens. Its like the weird relative we invite to a holiday meal: we have to deal with it but don't really want to acknowledge its part of our life. And after living through 30-some years of this phenomenon, I refuse to remain silent about all the wasted hours I have been robbed of. The way I see it (which definitely does not always equal reality), I should have an entire day owed to me because once a year 3am gets bypassed in order to pacify an outdated and unnecessary ritual dedicated to conserving war-time resources (here's where you look up the history of Daylight Savings Time).

But what would I do with an entire day all to myself? Most of us feel there are not enough hours in the day to accomplish all we need, so imagine if we could spend an entire 24 hour period doing whatever we wanted and not what we had to do. Here's the kicker: I think a lot of people would be confused and unnerved by having free time on their hands. We are so accustomed to our regimented lives and routines that we might not be able to function if we suddenly had nothing to do. Our coping mechanisms would be thrown off kilter and we might struggle with how we should appropriately kill time.

I propose this: we learn to relax and enjoy the company of our friends and families. Normally, I would suggest we try help others (say, by volunteering at your local homeless shelter) but I think I'll let you come to that conclusion on your own. Anyway, it seems we have too many people telling us to do too many things, so I don't want to be one more squeaky wheel in your life. Since life is short and we are losing time every year in the form of this dratted Daylight Savings, I hope you will take some time to slow down and participate in things that make you happy.

Drive, dance, paint, fish, hike, climb, write, sing, play, cook, sleep, run, swim... Just make sure you are doing what revitalizes you. And then, once you catch your breath and refocus on what truly matters (people, not schedules), you will be more useful to everyone around you.

And we can go back to figuring out where that missing hour slinks off to.