Changing The Clock

I keep hearing people say that they are a little off-balance from the weekend's daylight saving clock change. While I have generally found the first few days of later light strange, I have never really thought about an adverse reaction to the change, but I suppose it makes sense--the clock changing messes with our expectations of how the world around us is supposed to look, while depriving us of a precious hour of sleep (though this year, I was working overnight, so missed no sleep, but got no sleep either!). How could this one-two punch NOT leave us feeling a little off-balance?


Within a short time, I am sure we will all adjust to--and enjoy--the longer evenings, the daylight that lasts till (if you work days) your work is over and beyond. It is simply the change that confuses our systems, and I suppose that is true of any change. Even if we consider ourselves the most flexible, adaptable people we know, none of us is immune to feeling unsteady when we have to handle change. Change forces us to learn new skills and new rules. It forces us to keep our eyes open, sometimes way too wide, and our feet moving, sometimes way too fast.


For me, the last few years have come with almost constant change, so it's probably no wonder that my eyes are sometimes tired and my feet are sometimes worn out. I have seen and chased all sorts of new things, and for that, I am grateful, but the changes have sometimes left me a bit the same as daylight saving leaves us all--happy, but somewhat off-balance.


Clocks changing will happen again, as will change in our lives in all sorts of forms. And I suppose the best we can do is sleep in the hours we have and keep those eyes and feet ready to go. Because, whether it's springing ahead or falling behind, changing is here to stay.