Options for Measuring Time
happy new year...
We’re at the end of another year. A few months ago, when summer changed to fall, the natural world began to go dormant—some creatures headed for warmer climes, others went underground to sleep. The trees lost their leaves and things stopped growing. It’s all a warm-up for December 31st, when a whole human year comes to an end.
It’s an occasion when many of us become a little more self-reflective. Or I do, anyway. I can feel the hunkering down, the loss of time, and nowadays, I feel the loss of my youth more acutely. And by “youth,” I mean whatever age I happen to be now, lol. Another year gone.
Yet there’s also something appealing about being on the verge of another opportunity to start fresh. We are losing 2024, but 2025 is a chance for a do-over! Maybe with a few more wrinkles and grey hairs, but it’s still a chance at something new.
I’m not one for resolutions, but I love formal opportunities to create intentions. I’m not much for goal setting in the traditional sense, but I’m all for appreciating where I am and what I have, and feeling optimistic about the future. I do have intentions for 2025.
It’s natural to measure our lives or accomplishments or shortcomings in the context of a year, especially here at the end of one. But there are so many other ways to measure time…
The other day, I was at the sink and I turned to open the dishwasher. I couldn’t remember the dishwasher status—had I emptied it, and could now put dirty stuff in it, or had it just run, and it needed to be emptied? I realized my life could be measured by how many seemingly millions of times I load and unload the dishwasher. It struck me as mundane and depressing at the time. But everything can be depressing and mundane if seen in the right light. Everything can also be a blessing and something to appreciate.
How many more times will I load and unload a dishwasher? How many more times will I climb stairs? Open the fridge? How many more haircuts will I get?
How many more times will I be up to see the sunrise? How many more times will I see the ocean? How many more people will I love? And how many more will love me back?
They say time moves slowly when we’re doing something we don’t enjoy, and super fast when we’re engaged, in flow state. Some believe we can manipulate time to fit our needs, rather than feel pushed and pulled and beat up by its passing.
How will you mark the passing of time? You don’t have to wait for January 1 to answer that.
Aren’t we lucky, to take this breath!
Happy New Year, friend.
I often wonder: How many books do I have in me? 😉
HNY Andrea!
Thanks, I needed that! Especially I needed to hear your questions! How many more times will I …...? This question seems somewhat morbid, but it’s reality. And it helps me appreciate each day more. Time to think about intentions. :D