Time

I've written about time before...but it's been on my mind again lately. Time is such a funny thing. Sometimes, we wish time would fly...at the beginning of a work day or week, the days leading up to a much anticipated vacation or event such as a wedding or birth or graduation (for the graduate anyway, not always the parents!), the last few weeks of school, during stressful events such as moving. We often we could just fast-forward to the event, to the end. Yet other times we wish time would slow down or even stop...over the weekend or days off, while actually on vacation, leading up to graduation for the moms and dads and throughout our children's lives (they grow so fast!), when having to say goodbye to a loved one, summer days (for teachers, often parents wish those summer days would go a little faster!), as days home with a new baby dwindle.

I guess what has brought this topic up for me again at this point is all the posts about babies (and kids...and teens...and young adults) growing too fast, and parents wishing these babies, kids, teens, and young adults would stop growing. Before I continue, I am not judging these parents...not even a little bit!! I'm just sharing my perspective. As a bereaved mother, as a grieving parent, I would give anything to watch my child grow. Even when Henry was here, I specifically remember thinking as he grew that I missed when he was tinier. But at the same time, I never wished for him to stop growing. Every time I thought I wished him tinier, I realized that then I would miss all that he was discovering and learning. I know had he continued to grow, I eventually would miss those baby moments, and those toddler moments, and those innocent childhood moments. But I could never wish him to stop, because I would never want to miss the discovery moments, the a-ha moments, the learning moments. And now that he is not here, I would give just about anything to be cherishing each moment with him.

What I have taken from all of this is that no matter what, time moves on. Sometimes it seems to move slowly and other times it seems to race by. We can't control time, nor the speed at which it moves. However, we can control what we do with our time. We can cherish the moment we are in, and try not to wish it away by wishing time would slow down or speed up. We can appreciate where we are each day, what we have in life, and what we hope to achieve in that day. As humans, we will always miss what has passed, and we will always look forward to what lies in the future. The important thing is not to miss our present because we are focused on the past or the future. And thankfully (for me at least) I have memories to keep my past with me, and hopes to keep my future bright.