A lack of time is no excuse to get out of commitments

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Graphic by Alan Li

By far, the compliment I most frequently receive is about how many things I do and how I manage to balance them without letting anything else fail.

That, for me, is just my life. I balance a ton of extracurriculars, place a huge emphasis on school and still try to make the people in my life that I love know that I love them. On top of that, throughout my nearly five complete semesters of my undergrad, I have never missed a single class.

How do I manage to do it all? I have my priorities in order. As much as itโ€™s a compliment, itโ€™s a fact. And how do I do it? I avoid one simple phrase.

โ€œI canโ€™t. I donโ€™t have time.โ€

Hereโ€™s a secret. None of us have time. Not a single person has enough time to do anything.

But we do it anyway.ย  We donโ€™t have time โ€” we make time. What gets done for each person all comes down to our priorities.

If I make a commitment, Iโ€™m going to stick to it, no matter how busy my schedule becomes. Thatโ€™s the thing about being reliable: you have to do it even when itโ€™s not convenient for you. Itโ€™s frustrating when people feel differently.

When someone makes a commitment to me, whether that be social outings, part of a group project or any other plans we may have, then drops it at the last minute, it becomes clear to me that our plans together were not a priority to them.

Thatโ€™s fine. But if Iโ€™m not a priority to you, you wonโ€™t be a priority to me.ย  Eventually, weโ€™ll all have to face up to the choices we make to our commitments.

Hitting the clubs the night before a midterm? Hope your memories were worth it. Cancelling plans with friends to study? I hope thatโ€™s worth it to you, too.

Thatโ€™s the thing about being reliable: you have to do it even when itโ€™s not convenient for you. Itโ€™s frustrating when people feel differently.

Even when youโ€™re sick, whether mentally or physically, what you do comes down to your priorities. Understandably, your first priority should be your health and thatโ€™s why we can justify taking sick days.

Faking sick? Thatโ€™s a priority too. It shows youโ€™d rather be in bed than going to class or to work.

Our choices will slowly shape our lives. I hope to make the choices that will lead to my goals, not to instant satisfaction. I know a lot of people donโ€™t feel the same way. Thatโ€™s fine, too. No matter what, something will have to be at the bottom of our line of priorities.

I often donโ€™t place a strong enough emphasis on having fun. Everything has to be contributing to something else and I donโ€™t take enough time just to relax and have a laugh.

Iโ€™ve accepted that โ€œfunโ€ is at the bottom of my list. That works for me and itโ€™s what Iโ€™m comfortable with. I just donโ€™t make time for it.

Maybe for others thatโ€™s class, extracurriculars or even friends and family. To each their own.

However, if you donโ€™t have time for me, Iโ€™m not going to make time for you.

We all have busy schedules. We all have too many things going on. But if we really care, weโ€™ll put our commitments and the things and people we love at the very top.


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Serving the Waterloo campus, The Cord seeks to provide students with relevant, up to date stories. Weโ€™re always interested in having more volunteer writers, photographers and graphic designers.