Everything is satisfactual…

Some days in North Carolina you get up and it’s a day like any other day in any other place in the world. There’s work to do, expectations to meet, obligations both personal and professional to attend to and you’re behind on every damned one of them. For me and for many of my friends, those days are thankfully rare.

Most days here you really start to understand the concept of “Isand Time” or the carefree attitude attributed to folks that live in the Caribbean. There’s a major difference here so “island time” doesn’t fit. I call it “Carolina Time” (I know, original huh?).

There’s still work to do and all of the other headaches of every day life but when you’re on Carolina Time they seem to hurt less. The “hard” work becomes enjoyable. The mundane stuff flies by and occasionally you stop for a second, look around and just can’t help smiling.

You realize that the sun is high in a clear blue sky (what pilots call CAVU or Ceiling And Visibility Unlimited) and it’s neither too hot nor too cold. You study your surroundings for a second and see the towering poplar trees, the bushy evergreens and the still green grass carpeted with fallen leaves. You hear the birds singing in the background and feel like joining them, and sometimes do, just for the fun of being alive. That’s Carolina Time.

It can happen any time really. You don’t have to have trees to do it. I had one of those moments today standing in the Best Buy parking lot. I had just spent money that I didn’t have on a credit card with an obscene interest rate. I was standing in the parking lot waiting for friends to finish shopping and I was late… very late… for work. I have deadlines that are behind at work (late or not) and crushing expectations to get a lot of stuff done before the end of year holiday season. With all of that going on, with traffic flowing by and with people working through daily life I suddenly realized what a truly fantastic day it was.

I didn’t break into song but I certainly felt the need. I love days like this and on days when life has me a little upside down I often force myself to just take that little moment, look around and get back on Carolina Time. More often than not, I’m successful at it and can feel the stress flowing somewhere else. It works… “it’s the truth, It’s actual, Everything is satisfactual….” err… see, there I go again. Try it some time. You might just realize that there’s plenty of Sunshine heading your way and that it’s a wonderful feeling, feeling this way.