If your life is a day, what time do you think it is?
I guess this question only springs to mind as the ‘day’ begins to run away with you. However, the clock is always ticking and none of us have a clue how long we’ve got on this earth.
February tends to be a gloomy month for many of us and this year it seems particularly so – thanks to COVID, we don’t even have holiday plans to look forward to. For me it’s also heading towards the time in February when I lost both my parents. They actually died more than 25 years apart, but at exactly the same time of year.
Even more gloomily, next year I will be the same age my mother was when she died, so I guess the ticking clock thoughts are somewhat inevitable. I’m sure my elder sisters had similar experiences approaching the same milestone.
It’s one o’clock in the morning, I’m not asleep and I can hear the wind howling round the house and whistling through the trees. Thankfully there is no sound of a ticking clock!
Still, I am wondering what time is it for me?
When I was very young time often dragged. I seemed to have to wait ages for everything whether it was Christmas, birthdays, the summer holidays, or even just the return of my siblings from a bicycle ride…
Then I stopped marking time so much, I was too busy living and loving it, racing from one exciting event and experience to another.
Somewhere along the way life began to speed up. I can remember my children learning to walk, their first days at school and now suddenly, one of them is settling their own child into nursery and watching for their first steps.
Life seems to have moved suddenly from lunchtime to late afternoon – well I’m hoping it’s afternoon and not evening, but who knows?
The thing is I haven’t a clue what time it is and I’m glad. Not knowing means I need to make the most of each day, savour each moment, just in case it’s getting later than I’d realised and the sun is about to set.
Some years ago, a very good family friend lost his daughter in a car accident. It was a terrible shock – a beautiful young life cut short. His words to many of us, as he battled on through the pain and grief each day, were “carpe diem” – seize the day. He was right – we shouldn’t be watching the clock afraid of when it’s going to strike midnight.
I want to try and seize each day, making the most of all that I have, even in lockdown!
rachelfarmer 