1. Someone asks what you like to do with your free time; and you laugh sarcastically and answer, “What free time?”
2. Your friends nickname you “fuddy-duddy,” “killjoy,” or “party pooper.”
3. You fall asleep at your computer while doing your homework.
4. You envy people who tell stories about how they have fun.
5. You write two pages before you finish your “To-do” list.
6. You are up and going as soon as the alarm goes off in the morning–and sometimes before it goes off.
7. You do any of the above, and it’s a Saturday.
8. You are driving, and you try to get stopped by the red lights so you can close your eyes for one minute.
9. Your fishing pole is dusty.
10. Your friends tell stories about all the parties, movies, trips, and adventures you have missed.
11. You carry a calendar, student planner, or palm pilot–everywhere.
12. You do any of the above, and it’s a Sunday.
13. You hear fireworks going off, but you’re too busy studying to watch them.
14. Your friends begin to ask, “What are working on now?” instead of “Would you like to hang out with us for a while?”
15. There is a permanent dent in your thumb where you hold a pencil.
16. You stop paying attention to the weather outside because you never get to go out.
17. You do any of the above, and it’s a holiday.
18. You are becoming the teacher’s favorite student.
19. You read an article about “workaholics,” and it sounds all too familiar.
20. Your English teacher asks you to write an essay about what you did on vacation, and you have to make up a fantasy trip.

DIG DEEPER

READ Genesis 2:1–3.

PRAY: Dear Lord, my life is hectic. Help me not to become so overwhelmed with work that I forget to play, so preoccupied with what I have to do that I forget what I want to do, and so exhausted by meeting the demands of others that I have no time to satisfy the needs of my own spirit. Let me stop and relax with you, so that my spirit is refreshed and I receive your gifts of happiness and peace. Amen.