Time...such a funny thing when you stop to think about it...
It can march on or stand still...you can squander it or take your sweet time getting things done.
Time is money, but money doesn't give you more time.
Time flies, but at the same time can crawl.
We always need more of it, then complain when we have too much time in situations that make us uncomfortable.
You can't buy time, but you can make time with someone.
We save time AND waste it. We take time for granted, then use moan about it's loss...
Life can be the best of times, or the worst of times in the same sentence...
We can't save time in a bottle for when it's convenient for us to experience it or have it when we want it.
I've been thinking a good bit about time this summer. As I watch the kids grow up and they are increasingly on the go, I sit and wonder where the time and years have gone. Now don't get me wrong, there were and are STILL days that seem to go on forever! You know the ones...where everyone is in a pissy mood or thing after thing seems as if Murphy is sitting in your house writing his next installment of laws and you look up and actually mutter the words that you can't wait until the day is over or until the kids are grown and gone.
Then poof, one day you look up and get your wish. Not only are the kids starting to turn into adults, but you're a bit farther along in the adult process than you ever imagined yourself being. You still FEEL like a teenager with your thoughts or in the way you play your music, then look in the mirror and wonder where in the hell did those wrinkles come from? You're slowly turning into your parents...and if you're lucky enough to still have your parents here...you look at them and wonder how they all of the sudden got so old.
That's when it hits you (or should). WHAT are you doing with your life? I'm not talking about career or keeping up with the Jones...or even getting ready for retirement. Are you ready for the changes that are coming at light speed? Are you really using and appreciating all the little things in your life RIGHT now that might be overlooked in favor of letting the challenges over-shadow the good things that happen each and every day? Are you courageous enough to reach out and not let things or people slip through your fingers that you hadn't anticipated, to not let go even when it all might scare you with the feelings or implications involved? Can you give yourself permission to reach out for something, with no guarantees? Can you trust that whatever happens, it's important not to take something special for granted and enjoy it to the fullest...to see what might happen, even if it wasn't in your plans?
Time isn't an unlimited commodity to be traded like a stock. Life changes as we go along, as does our direction, no matter how much we try to keep to the path we had imagined for ourselves, and that's okay...time works things out for the best, even when we take detours we hadn't planned. Do not take things for granted or throw them away...make time and relax...trust.
I'm definitely not a polly-anna type of person. Anyone that knows me or is getting to know me, knows I approach life with a realistic, cynical, sarcastic view of a lot of things. I'm opinionated and outspoken...and these days can be just full strength, un-diluted ME with those I trust. That alone makes me happy. (I'm not sure about everyone around me gets the same warm fuzzies from it all the time*grin*) What I do make sure to do though, is even on days that would make Barney the purple Dinosaur break down and cry, is to find SOMETHING in the day that was good or to smile over.
I enjoy life. Period.
Whether it's challenging or exciting or ho-hum...I enjoy the simple fact that I'm breathing and that alone leaves me with endless possibilities in front of me.
The challenges, the colors, the tastes, the smells, the experiences that let me know I'm living life and not just wandering blindly through missing most of it or making those around me miserable....all so important to not take for granted.
We all start out each day with 24 hours. The same 60 minutes in each of those hours. The same 60 seconds in each minute. It's time that can't ever be reclaimed...you cannot bank it for later when you have the "time" to experience it. You can't turn back the clock. Will all things in life be pleasant or good? Heck no!! ...I do know one thing though...you better live while you've got the chance. Life truly is TOO short to waste too many seconds of it. You should never look back and have to wonder "what if"...take a chance.
What matters is what we do with it and if we make sure that at least PART of each day has something in it that you find to smile over. I don't care if it's as simple as the fact that your dog didn't crap in the neighbor's yard for once or that a cloud had an interesting shape...or if you DIDN'T hear from a pain in the butt friend. There is something in those 24 hours, EACH AND EVERY DAY, that can be smiled over. It may be something little, find it anyway and make the conscience decision to realize that it happened.
Life is truly how you face it and what you make of it. If you want to be miserable and make those around you feel the same way, that's exactly what's going to happen. You'll wake up one day and wonder what happened to your life, why no one comes to see you, why you're lonely. Don't blame anyone else, fix yourself and get happy with yourself FIRST...don't wait on someone else to do it for you. Accept what life hands you and find a way to make it work for you or to improve what's needed. You'll find when you are comfortable with yourself, others will be too and will want to be around you.
Now, as often happens when I start typing...this didn't start out to be a general pep talk about life. I was looking at old pictures and at the kids sitting around the house one night with their friends, and my mind wandered to time and it's value. I'm making memories still and will always. I'm also savoring the ones already made and making sure to pass them along to future generations or friends so that they are never forgotten.
I'm also looking forward to finding many things for myself in the coming years. I'm not speaking of material possessions, although those are nice...but the things that I've learned that are truly important to life and happiness, the things that I truly need or want for myself on other levels. None of us has a crystal ball to predict what those things will be or where we'll be a year from now or with whom. TIME will tell, we can't totally script our lives and be happy.
The past year has been a bit of a roller coaster, full of the highest highs and a couple of lows I hadn't expected or foreseen amongst the good things happening to me. I've had relationship challenges and a health scare, but over "time" and by sharing with someone special, everything works out...perhaps not perfectly, but in ways that have amazed me and have given me joy in the way those things are progressing. It takes hard work, communication and at times blind faith in something or someone. Living your life takes courage and realizing there are some things that just are...things that are inexplicable and wonderful. Things that are needed, whether we planned them or not. Enjoy each one thoroughly and cherish each day.
Time, such a funny wonderful thing. It's the ultimate gamble in life. We know we have a finite amount and we take a chance on how much time has been dealt us. It's a question not one of us can answer with any certainity...don't let your time pass you by.
~Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff that life is made of.~ Benjamin Franklin
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