On the surface this can seem a little odd. To be on time, we have to actually turn time back. The reason for turning our clocks back once a year is to have more daylight hours at the beginning of our day opposed to the darkness that the changing season brings. As the days get shorter, we use this trick to adjust our lives to have the beneficial use of the sun more than we would if we didn’t “fall back”.

Today, I am announcing my petition to have the practice of turning our clocks back greatly expanded. Instead of just turning our literal clocks and watches back, my petition will suggest that we also adjust the clocks for the following:

All of us who are teachers on this day will turn our clocks back to the time when we were very idealistic and believed that with sincerity and devotion we could truly make a difference in our student’s lives. That would be the time when we were not afraid to try new things and there were no feelings of drudgery and duty that could swallow the joy of seeing our students experience the magic of learning. The extra sunlight would do us good.

All of us who are leaders on this day will turn our clocks back to the time when we had fresh goals and noble ambitions and our characters mattered more than our politics. The exact time to turn the clock back to is when a man’s word was his bond and a handshake was as good as a notarized contract. We would move our clocks back to before the time we became battered by the ill effects of leadership without passion, roles without purpose and routines instead revelations.

For those of us who play support roles in any endeavor my petition will include turning back our clocks as well. The exact time to turn them back to is when we were excited to be a part of a community of commonly held beliefs and we were happy to help in anyway we could, regardless if there was any credit (or profit) given to us. This would be the time when we were satisfied with knowing that we used what we had to help where we could and we left the rest to God.

Another group my petition will cover is for all of us who have settled into existing instead of abundant living. The exact time to turn these clocks back to is when we were not afraid to dream big, crazy, unheard of dreams. We would move our clocks back to the time when we didn’t focus on the obstacles that confronted us instead of the dreams that awaited us. This would be the time when every day was an adventure and our hopes for a bright future were not jaded by the realities of our present.

My above petition is flexible enough to be expanded as the need arises. I am open to adding any group that can be benefited by going back to a time when life made more sense. Now, if any of you have a connection with our governing bodies to get this petition signed into law, please let me know.  In the meantime, we can just start a grassroots movement for turning the clocks of life back one by one.

Well, I have a lot of clock adjusting to do now. I can use more daylight in my life.