OK….I have not stuck to my “once a week” blog post. I’m not always sure how it happens….you know, time just slips away and suddenly a month is gone….never to be seen again. No matter how much we regret letting time slip through our fingers we can never retrieve it.

We can’t stand in front of time and stop it. We can’t stick our foot out and trip it, slowing it down enough for us to jump on top of it and enjoy the heck out of it. 

All we can really do is accept that time is precious, time is fleeting, time is only with us for this moment. If we blink, the moment escaped and we will never recapture it. 

For those of you that have passed that magical age that causes time to speed up (for those of you who haven’t reached that age…you will!) you will understand when I say “Trying to keep up with time is like being trapped in a hamster ball.” Time, by its nature, is constantly moving. But something happens around the age of 35 (at the oldest 40) that causes time to rev its engine and quadruple its speed. The other thing that happens around this time is…20 year olds look 14 and suddenly your parents don’t look nearly as old as they did a few years ago.

So the lesson is….time is precious? Or is the lesson….run faster so you can keep up? I’m really not sure. The one thing I do know, for me time can be friend or foe…..I think slowing down and living each moment with purpose will allow us to appreciate time and hopefully, as a result, enjoy life. But no matter how perfect this ideal of meditative purpose is….rarely does my reality or my actions meet the required focus. I am much more likely to chase the squirrel until the butterfly gets my attention. 

So my life is out of focus with multiple distractions fighting for space and time in my head. Without strick study and discipline I will never meet the demands of meditative focus. However, I can find ways to relax and enjoy the time I have been given. I can dig in the dirt, walk through a beautiful park, sit quietly with my partner, breathe deep, pet my 4 legged children, laugh with my friends and smile.

Time is fleeting but maybe our job isn’t to keep up as much as it is to realize what a precious gift we have been given and not allow too much of it to slip by without noticing it and making the most of it.