You know,
I've been thinking about life a lot lately.
I'm getting older.
And time is passing by so quickly.
Faster than I ever imagined it could when I was young.
I found myself thinking about some of the people I've lost over the years,
And some of them were just too young.
I take it as though if you don't get the chance to enjoy retirement,
To enjoy those quiet,
Easy years you spent your whole life working toward,
That's too young.
That's too soon.
And when I sit with these thoughts,
There's a sadness that runs through me,
A kind of ache that settles in and doesn't ask permission.
But it's not all sadness,
Not even close.
I try to keep a mental log,
Almost like a private archive,
Of all the great times I've had.
Some of those memories involve just one or two people close to me,
And others involve many,
Whole rooms full of laughter and connection I didn't know at the time I'd be holding onto so tightly later.
I think about the experiences I've been privileged enough to have chances that so many people never get in their lifetime.
Places I've seen,
Moments I've shared.
Feelings I've been lucky enough to feel.
And my youth.
I never thought about any of this.
Time felt endless back then.
Like there would always be more of it waiting around the corner.
I didn't count the years or notice them slipping past.
And now,
Time just moves faster than I would like.
It doesn't wait for me to catch up.
And because of that,
Memories have become something incredibly valuable to me.
Maybe the most valuable thing I have.
There's been a lot of pain along the way.
That's true.
But there's also been a lot of joy.
Real joy,
The kind that stays with you long after the moment has passed.
And I've come to believe that holding both of those things together,
The pain and the joy,
Side by side,
Without letting one erase the other,
That's really all any of us can do.
So what I'm trying to say is this,
Even though time is moving quickly,
Even though the days blur together more than they used to,
You can still choose to slow down.
You can still take a few quiet moments to reflect on everything you've lived through.
Look back at where you've been,
Who you've loved,
What you've survived,
And instead of letting it slip by unnoticed,
Let yourself appreciate it.
Let yourself feel grateful for having lived it at all.
