The Clock & The Calendar
These are not real names of clients. These are fictional characters rooted in source material from this author’s varied careers in his life before becoming a psychotherapist.
Patrick couldn't stay any longer. With crops to harvest and with matters busy at home, he no longer had time for the Roscoe Stetson Card & Hunt Club that operated outside of Roscoe's old family cabin. Patrick now had a wife and child. Patrick now had responsibilities. Texas Hold Em was now a Hold Up.
Author’s Note: These are not real names of clients. These are fictional characters rooted in source material from this author’s varied careers in his life before becoming a psychotherapist.
Patrick couldn't stay any longer. With crops to harvest and with matters busy at home, he no longer had time for the Roscoe Stetson Card & Hunt Club that operated outside of Roscoe's old family cabin. Patrick now had a wife and child. Patrick now had responsibilities. Texas Hold Em was now a Hold Up.
Jayne couldn't stand her anymore. She whined. The past years of high school cheer and the dance team were gone. She couldn't bear to hear what her old friend had to say. They were now night and day different. She needed to guard her time. People depended on her as the CFO for the farm. There was no more cheer. Her old friend that she was lifted high on the pyramid by no longer held her up.
Bert couldn’t stand it. His organic farming operation, his timeshare in Florida, and his new hybrid vehicle were all collecting greenbacks. The APR on his credit card to finance the hybrid and the timeshare was not an ally at this time. His back up against the wall. His grandfather, if he still were alive would have said the following to him. “Bertie, you can’t go down every road you see. Otherwise, your never gon to get anywhere.” Bert found himself scratching his head as he looked at his bank account app…wondering how he got here.
These are twenty-first century stories of how things change. Frequently we fail to see that when seasons change we must adapt to what we value not what we used to value. Both David, the Psalmist, and the 1960s rock group the Byrds understood this concept well. We come across points where we need to change how we view both the clock and the calendar differently and our dollars differently.
Our decisions reflect our values…what motivates us to success or failure tends to be guided by values. If compassion is a value you have, then compassion is likely to motivate you to go on a humanitarian journey or mission trip to a foreign country where a natural disaster has taken place to provide relief for the effected place and people. If you value family, maybe just being back to your house for dinner before 6pm is a priority. If you value quality, you’re going to be an intentional planner and worker. You’ll be following plans you made closely and you’ll have an ownership on everything you do. If you value faith, you’ll be spending time in prayer and connecting with the Word.
It all has logic, doesn’t it. If you value something, you’ll do it, you’ll chose it. However, in our world of 2025 we tend to get distracted by all sorts of things. Scrolling on our smartphones there’s an advertisement for everything. A distraction for every adult and child on demand. However, these distractions are just free dopamine: a neurotransmitter. Dopamine is a pleasure chemical we get when we engage in certain behaviors. Unfortunately, dopamine has an appeal that we misplace as a priority rather than what we value. Consider those three folks I mentioned at the start of this piece.
Jayne, Bert, and Patrick were all facing different priorities. The old priorities of their past though weren’t going to make it with what they valued currently. A friend of mine is 92 years old. He has written likely 1,000,000 words in his life in various journals, professional magazines, he is a medical doctor by training. He valued preserving and at times saving people’s lives. His life has been a joy filled one as he remained rooted in his values.
Jayne’s old friend, Patrick’s cardsharking, and Bert’s spending were not in alignment with their new values. A pal of mine once said it best: “Hobbies migrate and priorities change as we age.” The reality of this situation is that frequently we must audit what we prioritize to discover if the clock and the calendar are ruling us. If that is the case, we must change our priorities, re-actualize our values, so we manage the clock and the calendar for our best interest and the best interest of our families.