Time just keeps flying by, doesn’t it? Time is such a weird thing. Sometimes it seems a hour, a day, a week, can take forever, especially when we are waiting for something good to happen. Then other times we say things like “I can’t believe how fast this month has flown by.” And of course, the older we get, the faster time seems to fly by.
I remember thinking when I was a child that the world would end before I was able to get my driver’s license, graduate high school, get married, have kids, etc. Do you remember having those thoughts too? I also remember hearing the “old folks” (who in reality were then about my age now) talking about how time seemed to pass by faster and faster with each passing year. I remember thinking they were probably on the verge of some sort of old folks’ disease that obviously affected their thinking! hahahahahaaha
Now I find myself puzzled with where all the time goes and hear myself say to my other “old folk” friends, “Can you believe how time seems to speed up every year?” And I imagine there is some kid overhearing that conversation thinking we are just confused old folks! hahahahhahahaha
The real issue is that none of us have a guarantee of what tomorrow holds for us. None of us know how many breaths we have remaining in this life. But what we do know for certain is that time is flying by at record speed, and every minute spent can never be recaptured. We say things like, “Can you believe it is 2021?” “Can you believe it is tax time already?” “Can you believe school is out already?” “Can you believe summer is halfway over?” And so go the conversations year after year.
Even though this phenomenon happens every year to each of us, we always seem surprised by it. It is like we think that somehow, we will get ahead of the curve next year. Somehow, we will be able to control the pace of our calendar and get everything done we plan to accomplish. But it never happens. Life just keeps on coming like relentless waves constantly crashing against the shore.
Life happens. Good and bad, great and horrible, average and extraordinary, boring and exciting, complex and simple. Life just keeps on coming at the same relentless pace of 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days a year, 24 hours per day, 60 minutes per hour, 60 seconds per minute…over and over again.
It is so easy to get so caught up in the pace of life that we forget to really live. Our priorities get all confused and we find ourselves “running on fumes”. Jesus would say that our absolute highest priority is to love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind, and that our second highest priority would be to love our neighbor as ourselves. The “rat race” is not our friend. It will destroy us if it is left unchecked and unbalanced.
Every breath we breathe, every minute we spend takes us one minute closer to our last breath and our last minute on this earth. Rest when it is time to rest. Work hard when it is time to work. Play when it is time to play. Laugh when it is time to laugh. Cry with it is time to cry. But always remember that minute spend can never be recaptured. Make every opportunity count.
