Due Dates

Having reached that point in the summer when a whole city has presumably decided to do the summer reading, we got a notice from the library that the summer reading book we'd borrowed (yay us for having checked it out early on!) would be due back, no renewal possible. So if it wasn't finished now, we'd have to buy the book or scour libraries all over--a daunting task. And by golly, by 4:30pm, the book was finished and returned.
 
Now, I suppose that by paying a few days worth of fines, we could have extended that deadline. But the due date provided just the amount of motivation needed to get the job done.
 
The whole experience has kind of made me wish that the public library could put due dates on a few other things in my life. For, while I may not have a school child's penchant for procrastination (well, maybe sometimes I do), one of the most challenging things about both underemployment and job searching is the complete lack of any due date. We can work toward something each day, but one day tends to blend into another. We can set goals, but we have little external oversight about our reaching those goals. We can apply to jobs posted today, but we can also get caught up in a process that lasts for many days.
 
Clearly, the due dates of life can be slightly more challenging than the due date of a library book. But either way, when we have a due date, we have more of a direction. When we have a due date, we can often focus better, work better, accomplish better.
 
In life, especially underemployed life, it is up to us to set, and live by, the due dates. It's not easy. But when we can hold ourselves accountable, as would the librarian behind the desk, we may find that our reading, and a whole lot more, has a better chance of being completed, without fines, and on time.