Better Late than Never

How fast time flies! I remember it was just yesterday when I paid last month's internet bill. And yet here we are, already at the dreaded day of reckoning: it's due today. Things are just moving so fast.

I'm sure many of you can relate to this. Time goes by so fast, and it can be hard to keep track of all the bills that need to be paid in the span of a month. It's almost like they're multiplying. One way or another, there always seems to be one that slips through the cracks!

I've never been a fan of speed, not in any sense of the word. Too fast only leaves me breathless and burnt out. I like to take things slow and easy, because that way I get to enjoy more of the journey, rather than constantly worrying about my destination and how soon I'm going to get there. But sometimes, despite all my efforts at slowing down, life has a way of speeding things up so much that I feel like my head's going to explode!

I have a bad habit of paying our bills late. I don't do it on purpose. For me, the problem is that I'm constantly busy, and the task of going to pay doesn't seem urgent until it's too late.

This month is one of those months. We have our bills to pay on top of our usual expenses—plus we have a lot of deadlines to meet for our school activities. We're busy people and we can't afford to turn in assignments late or flunk out of classes!

It's not my first time either. It's happened before—and it'll happen again.

I'm not here to advocate for paying bills late, but I do want to acknowledge what it means to be human and miss deadlines or fail to meet expectations sometimes, even when we don't want to.

And you know what? When that happens, when goals are missed or promises go unfulfilled, it can feel pretty bad. It's disappointing, and sometimes it can feel like a huge setback. It can be hard not to see yourself as a failure when you miss something so important.

This is especially true for students like me who are working hard to balance work and school, but often come up short on both ends because there aren't enough hours in the day for everything we have to get done. Balancing work, school, and life can feel impossible and overwhelming at times—and there are moments when you need something tangible that lets you know you're not alone in that struggle, just trying your best in a world full of deadlines and expectations.

Late fees aren't fun (trust me, I know), but they're also not the end of the world. Sometimes they can help break up the monotony of trying-hard-but-not-quite-reaching-the-finish-line. I know that a lot of people out there are trying their best to do the right thing, and when they can't do it, they feel terrible about it. They're embarrassed and anxious and disappointed in themselves.

I've realized that the reason I often feel so guilty about missing a deadline or letting someone down is that I put too much pressure on myself. The whole "you can do it all" mentality doesn't really work when you're trying to juggle a full-time job, social life, and classes when you're not sure whether you're going to pass them or not (which is a whole other story). I'm working on taking the pressure off of myself and just aiming to do my best in each area of my life.

I think we should all remember to live in the moment as much as we can and cut ourselves some slack when things fall through the cracks because they inevitably will.

All photos are from Unsplash
Copyright,2022 frdchckn. All rights reserved.