I've been thinking a lot about an old Jim Croce song, "Time In a Bottle". If you haven't heard it, I hope you will look it up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO1rMeYnOmM It contains some really profound lines. There never is enough time, is there?
I'm probably feeling this way because I have a birthday coming up. Each one serves to remind me that time is slipping away. And at a rapid pace. The young don't feel this like us old people do. Somebody wise explained it this way: Young people have a shorter span of time to remember, so to them there is still plenty of time to do what they want. Older people have a much larger memory bank and realize they haven't accomplished near enough and they hear the clock ticking at an alarming rate. Or another way to explain it: On a scale of 1 to 10, young people are at a 2 or 3 and older people are at an 8 or 9.
There are days like today, I would love to take a nap. I don't because I want to keep those precious two hours.
But, what can we really do about the slipping minutes. hours and days? Nothing. Father Time marches on with or without us. We should strive to use our time wisely, creatively and gratefully. Or we can sit and fret and worry about things while the clock keeps tick-tocking away.
How well do you use your time?
I get really grumpy around my birthday, and that's exactly why. I try to fight it, but it's hard not to dwell on how much I HAVEN'T accomplished yet. Why do we do that to ourselves?
ReplyDeleteI don't know. I was hoping you could tell me!
DeleteI would take a nap if I were you. The hell with it. I mean, you could take a nap and wake up feeling refreshed, or sit around thinking about time.
ReplyDeleteI have this terrible phobia of dying and/or people around me dying. When I was a lot younger, I always wished time would go faster so I could go to Silver Dollar City, or watch cartoons or summer or Chrismtas would come. After my dad died, I remember thinking how #$%&ing stupid I was because I'd been so excited to see Return of the King. He died about a month before it came out and I just wished I could go back to when I first realized it was going to come out and make the most out of the moments Dad was alive. I don't take as much pleasure in waiting for things to happen as I used to. Like, I should be excited that my book might release in February, but I'm really thinking, 'please don't let someone die between now and February'. Yeah, it's messed up. Welcome to my brain.
That's why we love you!
DeleteI agree with you whole-heartedly Wanda. When it comes to our lifespan, the only guarantee we have is that every year we live takes us one year closer to death.
ReplyDeleteThe older I get, the more I consider how to spend my remaining time. If only I could have realized how precious time is when I was young.
And yet sometimes we wonder what the heck we're doing here in the first place.
ReplyDeleteGood points, though.
I'm sure I don't use my time to capacity. Having lost my husband suddenly 10 1/2 years ago, my advice is enjoy what you have now. Don't stress about the past. Love your family and spend time with them. Do what you enjoy and keep God in your life.
ReplyDeleteLike you said time is moving on continually. Don't think about it just do what you want and plan out more things to accomplish. Worry doesn't add anything to our life that we want. And it takes up our time.
ReplyDeleteJan Gallagher