Focus for Forty
Throughout the Bible, "Forty" is a common unit of time....forty days of rain for Noah, forty years of wandering in the desert for Abraham, forty days of fasting for Jesus. As a part of my Lenten introspection, it occurred to me that I could use this unit of "forty" to manage my days, weeks, months, and years. Focus on Forty represents my start at this effort. Quite simply, I believe that by breaking my world into units of forty, I can better manage my time.
Forty Minutes: What do I need to accomplish RIGHT NOW? This represents the immediate priority in my world...a sustainable amount of time for staying focused.
Forty Hours: What is really pressing in my world...I have two days to accomplish this...what demands my attention Today and Tomorrow....a short work list of priorities.
Forty Days: The near future...just shy of 6 weeks... In forty days, if focused, a person can accomplish so many things...organizational, professional, personal, spiritual. And by working hard on a concept or project for 40 days, true behavior changes will happen...old habits can be replaced with new habits.
Forty Weeks: Not quite a year, but enough time to create and birth a human being so big ideas can be brought to fruition in forty weeks. If you can't stay focused on your goal for forty weeks, you are not likely to be successful. One can easily make significant personal, academic, spiritual, cultural, and societal changes in forty weeks.
Forty Months: Maybe the most critical unit of time, as it helps direct our immediate, short-term, and mid-range plans. Slightly less time than the US involvement in WW II, 40 months is enough time to graduate college if you work hard, to conceive, create, and complete most plans, and to substantially change both your and your world's perception and reality.
Forty Years: Okay, so this is a bit of a stretch, but we need long range plans too..not just forty months, but substantially longer. As I compose this, I am not quite 55. Do I have 40 years left...depends on many things, most of which I don't control. But my grandfathers made it with sharp minds till nearly 90 and my mother's aunt Gigi was 102 or so when she died (and quite sharp). So I am going to live like I am going to live a long time...plan, prepare, and partake...I like that...plan, prepare, and partake....sounds like a future essay. I don't want to run out of ideas and dreams before I run out of heartbeats...we are what is in front of us...that which we are chasing/pursuing. So my forty year plan will include finishig a wonderful career, enjoying a wonderful family and retirement, and someday my friends and family will be able to celebrate the then concluded wonderful life with which I have been so richly blessed.
