Time Flies When You're Sixty

Think back to when you were a little kid, when Christmas trees were big, and your back yard was gigantic. Now think what it was like waiting for some special holiday, like your birthday, or Christmas. Remember how it seemed to take forever to get here? Then once it was past, it was almost a lifetime till it returned. Or remember summer vacations, which really did seem endless?

Well, how about now? Christmas will be here in about a month, but last Christmas really doesn't seem that long ago. And summers? To a working teacher, as I once was, they go by in a heartbeat.

Time definitely passes differently when you're older. Personally, I think it's a proportional type of thing. In other words, when you're six, it takes one sixth of your lifetime to become seven. And when you're sixty, it takes one sixth of your lifetime to become seventy. Since I'm 60, the next ten years of my life will seem as long to me, as one year did when I was six. A little scary I think.

OK, that's a pretty subjective thing, but I'm sure you get the idea. So we look at things differently from when we were younger. For instance, a girl in her twenties told me recently that she might change jobs “in eight or ten years.” Nobody in her sixties would make that statement. Because to someone in her twenties, she has her whole life ahead of her. And it seems to stretch out in front of her forever. So she can afford to take her time on things. I remember when I was twenty. Yes, I knew I would eventually get old and die, but it never concerned me, because it was SO far in the future, it was something I just didn’t have to think about.

But when you’re older, things are different. At least for me. While I don’t dwell on it, my own mortality is now something I understand. While I hopefully still have a lot of years ahead of me, I know it’s not forever.

Honestly, it’s something of a paradox. Since I’m retired, I have all kinds of time. As a recently retired friend of mine said a while back, “I have a lot to do today. But if I don’t get it done, I’ll do it tomorrow.” That was something we couldn’t say when we were working full time. So yeah, I can do things without hurrying them, because Monday is just like Sunday.

But in a larger sense, rather than slowing down, I’m in a hurry. I don’t think God is done with me yet, and I don’t want to just sorta fade away, at least not yet. So while I have lots of time in each week, I don’t have as much time in my lifetime. And I don’t want to waste it. So as each day goes by, I want to keep moving. If I’m going to start something that’s a big deal, I don’t want to think about it for a year or eight or ten. I want to get on it. Because I don’t know how much longer I have. And what I do have, I don’t want to waste.

The other thing I have noticed, is that I now never say things like “I can’t wait till such and such is over.” I used to say that about the school year, or the winter, or any number of other things. I just tried to wish all that time away. But as I get older, I value the time more. I'm not going to wish one second of it away.

 It’s too bad I had to get old to really appreciate the time I have.