This is NOT a New Year’s resolution post
Last week while out walking, listening to a podcast, probably a murder podcast, which interestingly enough, really teaches me about world history……. I digress.
I heard the host say they had less years ahead of them than the amount of years they have already lived. This actually stopped me mid-step, because I had to wrap my brain around the concept and paradigm shift, and because there was math involved. Yes, yes, and yes, I have experienced more years of life than is conceivable for me to have in the future. Wow.
So.. Nothing has literally changed since this revelation. I’m still as old as I was when I did the math. A DeLorean didn’t pull up and take me into the future. I didn’t get transported back in time so I could embrace the days when my photographs showed a much fitter, darker haired girl, or the girl that had no idea of the future events that would shape her life. I’m not sure I would if I could.
In the living of life, we start to gain a certain amount of wisdom. It accumulates rapidly in the seasons we hate the most, when we are forced to examine our worldviews, and recommit to the things we value dearly. Wisdom shapes how we live in the present.
We learn to let go of the things that don’t go our way, having found that the holding on is how you get rope burn.
We learn some days you feel all is right with the world, and you have your shit together, and some days you feel like the shit.
Time teaches us to take things a little bit slower, and helps us adjust our expectations more in tune with reality, versus wants and shoulds.
We learn the pain of regret so we start making decisions more consciously and intentionally.
And we start to hold onto the people that matter to us for dear life. No more on the fence, lazy, dilly dallying around the way we treat those we care about, having learned time is not infinite, and people aren’t around forever. The quality of our life and relationships become richer, with more color and texture and nuance, and this, this is what makes time start to accelerate uncomfortably. It’s a paradox I suppose. The more I value what is my life, the less time I feel I have to enjoy it.
The clock actually never changes, only we do. That’s the good news-there’s still 24 hours in a day, and 7 days a week. The 365 is never a guarantee however, and when you do the math as I did, as the podcast host did, I wonder which side of the equation your math lands on.
I’m in a season that I did not expect at this stage of my life. I’m still figuring out how I now measure the quality of my days, hoping time is on my side to figure it out and then live it. I enjoy feeling like I have my shit together and it’s not so easy to when you are recreating the story line. But it is possible.
This was not intended to be an inspirational New Year, New You post, but I guess it’s fitting. Less years ahead is just a numbers game. What do you want to do with yours :)
Big smiles and Happy 2026 everyone!
Elisha