When Time Flies...Faster

Do you recall, when you were growing up, the days that seemed to drag on, that didn't want to end? They rarely happen anymore. Life still has a way of coming before the things you'd like to do. Even setting priorities doesn't always help. Still somewhere along the line you seem to manage to find time to do the things you really want, the things that give you pleasure. Like stopping to smell the roses. At those moments, we have the opportunity to take a breather from responsibilities and no matter how briefly, take some time for ourselves. All work and no play…

Have you noticed how time seems to get away from us, even more so as we age? We get to thinking, was it only yesterday... Case in point... A few weeks ago, was my 50^th class reunion. I wasn’t able to attend, but that didn’t stop me from wondering who was still around, what they’d been doing these past years, and I remember the boy I had a bit of a crush on. Then there was the visit from a friend and her youngest daughter. Now the last time I recalled seeing her, she wasn't very tall, still wore her hair in two braids and was rather shy. Now, my friend mentioned her daughter’s all grown up and happily married. That's what makes me feel older...seeing friends' children growing up, marrying... Even my own adult sons never made me feel like time was getting away from me. The fact I have an adult grandson as well, doesn’t really phase me.

As I get older, I begin to think about how much time might be left and how best to use it. It creates an incentive to get more done, to figure out what's really important, and what dreams are waiting to be fulfilled. The problem is the physical me doesn’t care to cooperate. I seem to be at constant war with what my sister calls a joint conspiracy. They work when they feel like it. If they don’t feel like working, tough luck.

 Retirement? I don't think we ever really retire. It's just a matter of changing priorities. I thought I could spend more time with hobbies, to create the things I didn’t have time to do when I was working. It seems like there still isn’t the time for those things. Until a year or so ago I was an avid reader. That time has, un-fortunately, been greatly diminished. It’s not so easy to find the time to do some of the things you’ve always wanted to do.

Some responsibilities have run their course, like caring for elderly parents, leaving me to face the scary thought of my own mortality. When my dad was having a particularly trying day with his health he used to tell us, “Don’t get old.” After he passed, Mom took over telling us the same thing. Now that she’s gone as well, my siblings and I have taken up that mantra. The difference is we look at each other and laugh and say, “Too late.”  

This is our time, to do what we’ve always loved but couldn’t. Not only do we have more time, but we also have more experience to draw from, as well as memories, many fond, others not so much. We want to put more of ourselves into our creative efforts, to give our children something to remember us by. Then we watch time zip past us even faster giving more meaning to "Time Flies When You're Having Fun."