My daughter had a wonderful debate teacher in her high school. He left a strong impression on the kids and parents alike. My daughter had to travel every Friday to participate in the debate tournament across the country. Mr. D, the debate teacher insisted that all the kids arrive at least 2 and half hours before the flight time. No exception. In fact, He would have this repeat saying:
“Early is on time, on-time is late, and late is unacceptable”
He would unceremoniously leave the kid behind, if they did not show up on the dot. It sure built the character. My daughter, a dozen years later, still follows the “Early is on time’ mantra.
Moving to the present time, I discovered about three months ago that I have Pancreatic Cancer that’s metastasized. My oncologist says, If I do not do anything, I have about six months to live. It is statistics and being a data and a Bayesian believer, I know the time spread could be anywhere, especially, as I have decided to do the chemotherapy. This sudden realization, of being ephemeral, made me come up with Mr. D style saying i.e.
“Tomorrow is today, today is now, and now is almost a past”