Spring Forward

“Oh my gosh, get up!  Get UP!  We over-slept. I forgot to set our clocks forward last night,” my husband confessed.  This is how I was roused awake this morning and why I looked just a little disheveled and out of sorts as I headed off to church this morning. 

Today most of the nation “sprang forward” into Daylight Saving Time, some more gracefully than others.

The original brainchild of Benjamin Franklin, Daylight Saving Time (DST) was originally intended to “save daylight” for the evenings when people were out and working.  This was a tough concept in its inception, as there was no uniformity at that time in how the nation set its clocks.

On March 19, 1918, an “Act to preserve daylight and provide standard time for the United States” was enacted by the U.S. Congress. It both established standard time zones and set summer DST to begin on March 31, 1918.  It was observed for seven months in 1918 and 1919.  It’s had a bumpy ride since, with each state and local government being able to establish its own standard for time and adoption of DST.  Indeed, in the mid-1960s while traveling the 35 mile stretch on Route 2 between Moundsville, W.V. and Steubenville, OH, one would endure seven time changes!

In1966, Congress decided to step in once again and end the confusion.  The Uniform Time Act of 1966 was signed into federal law by President Lyndon Johnson.  It established DST to begin on the last Sunday of April and to end on the last Sunday in October.  This act also created broader and more uniform time zones as well as a standard system of DST within each time zone throughout the U.S. and its possessions.  Any state that wanted to remain exempt could do so by passing a state law.  Most recently, with the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (which took effect in 2007), DST was adjusted to begin at 2:00 a.m. local time on the second Sunday in March and end at 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday of November, which is why most of us "sprang forward" last night.

Now that we have spent our day bemoaning our missed hour of sleep and adjusting to a confused body clock, I recommend a different take on “springing forward.”  Let’s take this opportunity to look forward as we spring forward.  Take this time to re-evaluate the goals you established for yourself at the start of 2010.  Are they still viable?  Do they still make sense for your life and work’s purpose?  Where are you at with them?  If you are not where you want to be, or had planned on being – I recommend that you recommit to them.  If they need to be adjusted or sidelined for new ones, determine what the new ones should be and put together a new plan.  Rather than looking back at what you haven't accomplished since January, focus forward on corrective actions you can take.

High Road challenge for the day: Now that most of the nation has more “daylight,” refocus that daylight on your plans and take positive steps toward achieving them.  Visualize the successful result of reaching those goals. Break them down into monthly, weekly and daily accomplishments necessary to get there. Write them down (again, if you already wrote them down) in ink so they are on permanent record, and share them with the balcony people (those people who believe in you and encourage you forward to action) in your life.  Utilize this “spring forward” opportunity to take a quantum leap toward your goals.

And for my friends in Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Hopi Nation – I challenge you to do the same, even though you do not observe this biannual ritual of adjusting your clocks.  :-)