A version of this article originally appeared in the Jewish World News, a bi-weekly subscription-based newspaper in upstate New York.

One of the advantages-or maybe disadvantages-of being Jewish is that we have two opportunities a year to make resolutions: our sacred Rosh Hashanah and our secular New Year’s Day.   

My Rosh Hashanah resolution came directly from a comment from my husband.  Larry had just had surgery for a ruptured Achilles tendon, and he spent the High Holy Days in a Lazy Boy with ice packs on his huge cast.  Services started at 9 am, and I was still getting ready at 10 a.m.

“You’re running late,” he commented, as I dashed back and forth in front of his spot in the family room.  “You seem to be doing that a lot lately.”

Initially I wanted to make some snide remark about how taking care of his needs as well as all the household responsibilities that he had not been able to do as a result of his surgery had contributed to my problem. 

As I spent time in synagogue reflecting on my morning rush, however, I realized that my lateness was not limited to those last few weeks.  Friends had been left waiting at restaurants, movie theaters, and book stores, with a quick telephone call from me saying, “I’m running a little late! Should be there in 10…or 15 minutes.” And this had been going on for a while.

Lateness was not an issue for many years, especially when I was teaching. I used to be the first one at a party or restaurant, and I made sure I was at doctors’ office with time to spare. For my twenty five years of teaching,  I was in my classroom on time, and I became impatient with the stragglers.  It was when I moved out of the classroom into an administrative position that my ability to be on time became a question.

My new job required that I wear many hats.  I was responsible for public relations, institutional research, grant writing, special events, as well as any “duties as assigned.”  Although I enjoyed what I did, my job often required that I multi-task; as a matter of fact, my boss felt strongly that the ability to handle numerous balls in the air was a sign of a good administrator.  As a result, I got into the habit of not only working on numerous projects at one time, but also switching quickly from one task to another.  In order to handle the myriad of responsibilities, I also found myself trying to complete just one more thing.  As a result, I was always sweeping into a meeting a couple of minutes late. Of course, since everyone I worked with were also trying to multitask, I was not always the last one in conference room.  Larry also noticed it on the home front, as my necessity to finish up something resulted in my coming home one or two hours late.

These bad habits carried into my personal life, and even when I retired, I still found myself trying to squeeze in “one more thing” before heading out the door. Whether it be making that phone call or paying that bill or putting away that load of laundry, I always was running late, just like that proverbial White Rabbit in Wonderland. Which was where I was on that Rosh Hashanah

Since September, I have worked hard to focus on being on time. That means being ready  in advance. No last minute showers. No running around trying to find the sweater I planned on wearing. No, the new me is dressed, ready, and packed up ten minutes before any estimated time of departure.

Or not.  Despite best intentions, it doesn’t always work out.  I can try my best, but life does get in the way.  On Tuesday, I was heading out the door to  the YMCA when my brother and sister-in-law called, and we chatted for fifteen minutes.  Pulling the car out of the garage, I realized it had started snowing, which meant it took twice as long to make the four mile trip. Once I got to the Y, I ran into Tim, who caught me up on his winter running woes, and Lily, who shared with me that she was celebrating the holidays with her children from Chicago.I finally got on the elliptical, and it took me about five minutes to untangle the wires on my earbuds.  I had to cut my ride short to make it to class, which, because of the snow, was comprised of the instructor and four brave souls. OK. I tried! And I did get to class on time, unlike the unfortunate soul who showed up at 11:55 (Friday start time) for our 11:30 am Tuesday class.

So, for the secular New Year, my resolution is to continue my quest to be on time.  Whoops! look at the clock!  Need to cut this short to get to an 11 o’clock spin clas……

A version of this article originally appeared in the Jewish World News, a bi-weekly subscription-based newspaper in upstate New York.