In his post, How Not to Kill Time, Hugh got me to thinking about our perception of time and how that changes with…well, time.
Hugh uses the analogy of a toilet roll, the nearer you get to the end, the quicker it runs out. With more years behind me than in front of me, I find that to be true. Summer afternoons that used to last forever are a blur now. Days bleed into each other until I find myself asking Google for the date because I’ve lost track of what month it is.
I spent my youth wishing time would move faster, waiting for the next holiday or birthday. I wanted to kick time into high gear when my kids were little, longing to be me again and not mom.
Now, when my kids have kids of their own and I can see my end date looming on the horizon, I want to slow time down. I want to stop it altogether. So many lives I haven’t lived while I was busy living mine. So many things I haven’t done …
I can’t stop time, of course. None of us can. The best we can do is treasure the moments. Sunshine on water, or trickling through the leaves of a tree. A hand holding yours. Shared laughter. A smile.
What is life, but a string of moments?
“So many lives I haven’t lived while I was busy living mine.” This is such a great line, Aimer! Consider it stolen! 😀
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It’s yours 🙂
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I’m glad my recent post got you thinking about time, Aimer. No, we can’t slow it down, but we can live life to the full and not waste any more time than we may already have done so. When my ‘best by’ date comes up, I want to look back and say ‘That was fantastic. Now let’s do it all over again.”
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YES! Exactly 🙂
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I would say it a little bit differently. It’s not that time passes any faster now. It’s wondering how all those years could now be behind me: was it really 40 years ago this happened, was that 60 years ago? Most of my days are not in memory, which makes me wonder how my unconscious mind chose to save the memories it did. And all of this is accentuated by my now having to decide what to put in a will.
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Yes, I’m always startled by how much time has passed. Terminator 3 is hitting screens soon and the first Terminator? No, really? 1984?
The sad part is, 1984 doesn’t sound all that long ago to me 🙂
Drawing up a will, not so much of a problem as knowing I’m going to need one…
There’s a part of me that just can’t believe I’m not going to be here…
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This is SOOOO true, Aimer. My mind bends all the time at the oddity of it all. It’s crazy. Your final thoughts are everything. Each moment becomes so very precious. Ah. You’ve made me cry. Lovely. Thanks for the reminder, lest I space out…which has been known to happen!!! And thanks for the song. He was brilliant. Love this one. 😊❤️🤗
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We get so caught up in the routine that we forget to absorb the moments…
Glad you liked the post 🙂
I haven’t thought of that song in ages, but it was there all along waiting 🙂
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❤️
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