When I was pregnant with my daughter, many people said to me that time will fly by very quickly now that we have a child. Later, when she was about three years old, there were occasional days that never seemed to end. She would call from another room, “don’t see me,” which is when we new trouble was brewing.
A friend explained to me that the days may seem very long at times, but the years indeed would fly by. My daughter is 11 this week, and I couldn’t agree more with that sage wisdom. The years have indeed flown by.
It’s been 11 years since our awesome bundle of joy came along (Biased? Who me?). It’s also been 11 years since my wife and I got married and almost 23 years since I moved to Canada to be with her. About a month ago, it was 30 years since I met my friend Jen who, despite sometimes several years going by between our in-person visits, is still one of my best friends. And, well, it’s been 48 years since my own birth.
The days have often been long, but the years have sped past.
My paternal grandmother died the day before her 100th birthday. Optimistically speaking, if I live as long as her, almost half my life has already happened. Now, I could think about that and be sad about days gone by and opportunities missed, but what’s the point?
Instead, I’m thinking about what I want the next year to look like. What do I want the next decade to look like? What do I want to experience? What do I want to contribute? Who do I want to be with me on this journey (in addition to my wife and daughter)?
When I look back, a year from now, will I be proud of the example that I’ve set for my daughter? What about beyond that?
Will I have made a difference?
So as 2020 approaches, I’m looking forward and trying to just bring the good memories, and the lessons I learned from the bad with me. There are days I will stumble and I’ll want to yell to the universe “don’t see me”, but those days will still be a part of my journey. There’s no turning back now, so onward we go.
Featured image courtesy of Jessica Diamond under a CC-BY-SA license
