Oh dear. I think I am starting to cross the invisible line of life. You know the one. The one that determines whether you are looking forward to or back on events of your life. There is a point in your life when all you care to do is look forward. You enjoy wondering what you will be when you grow up. You wonder who you will marry. When you find your mate, you dream of your wedding. Once the wedding is over you think of future children. When you are pregnant you imagine what your baby will be like. Once the wedding is over and the kids are here, there isn’t as much we are groomed to look forward to other than retirement. Retirement is close enough to the final chapter of our life that it isn’t as much fun to dream about as the earlier milestones.
I am catching myself reliving the past more than I am daydreaming about my future. To be fair, you’d think looking to the past would slow life down a bit. It’s not like I’m a starry-eyed twenty something wishing my life away in anticipation of what is to come. The more I look back, the faster life seems to go. The more I wished for my future in my youth, the more the future dragged its heels to get here. I think this phenomena is the reason life seems to go faster and faster as I age. I need to learn from the cliche’ “a watched pot never boils.” My pot is boiling away because I don’t have my eyes on it anymore. I need to start looking with excitement towards my future again. Perhaps looking forward to what is to come will give me the sense it is taking forever to get here again.
Bravo! This is an excellent post and your point is crystal clear. I don’t dig the passage of time. I get a very scared feeling about these coming years. And talk about a freak-out when I think of my 60’s and 70’s.
To find excitement instead of anxiety in the future could slow things down a bit. Trying very hard to live in the moment is constantly on my mind.
Here’s to a wonderful year for you and your family, Lisa. And thanks for your very nice comment on my post. I appreciate your input.