Saturday, August 28, 2010

Where Is All the Time Going?

Ever have a day when you feel as old as Methuselah, and wonder how you got that way? I've been having several of those lately.
Kids who were just babies the last time I saw them are now grown adults. Doesn't feel like it was that long ago that I was watching them toddle around testing out their new mobility skills. Soon they'll be having their own babies.
My folks always told me to appreciate time while I had it, all too soon it will start slipping away, days passing so quickly that you scarcely remember them. At the time, I was just impatient for Christmas to hurry up and get here already, or for school to be out so I could sleep in and play late.
It is always hard to admit that your parents were right. These days, whole years fly by, and I wonder where they went. I still feel pretty much the same as always. but the face in the mirror looks like an old lady. (Let's not even talk about the spider veins in my legs and the skin on my arms where I have had too many farmer tans and too many mosquito bites.)
Also, I feel like I never get anything done anymore. There are always other demands on my time that keep me from getting my projects done. I never get to knit, or sew, or crochet, or do any craft projects anymore. I get to bake, but usually there is an urgent purpose behind it, and it isn't relaxing anymore. It's just one more demand on my time. I never even get to clean the house as often as I would LIKE to because I have other things I have to do. I do take time to read, but then feel guilty because things like the cleaning, or journal writing, or voice practice, or my poetry workbook are not getting done.
I have no aha! moment to share from this realization that my life is slipping away while I'm busy doing "other things". The only wisdom I can glean from it is that priorities must be set on how time is spent. My work for church is important, my job is important, because it is a vocation as much as it is a part-time job, my husband and our pets are important, perhaps most important, because they are my immediate family. My time on social media is not entirely wasted, because that is where I catch up with some of those toddlers who have grown up while I was busy elsewhere. It is also where I keep up with cherished friends near and far. Just about everyone on my "friends" list is someone I have met face to face. Exceptions are the email list friends that I have had for YEARS, and I have met a few of them in person, also.
There are also days when one just needs a little "puttering" time, time to do nothing much, time to ponder the mysteries of life and see if any new insight may be gleaned. That is what I try to do at least once in awhile. Unfortunately, today doesn't seem to have yielded anything profound, and now that my husband is up and stirring, I have to go do my Saturday chores.