Slow Down You Move Too Fast

Are you ever surprised at how fast life goes by?

Remember when you were a kid and summer felt like it lasted forever, hot August days, sprinklers, Popsicles, hopscotch, seemingly endless time to do whatever you wanted?

Although realistically I never expected that my entire life would be like that, I did think there would be times when it felt like that again. Little did I know how wrong I was. Not only did I never experience the carefree "ness" of being a kid in the summer, but life for me has never slowed down.

I always figured at some point it would. First there was working in high school to pay for car insurance, and college and clothes. Then it was working in the dorm at college and working full time the summers in between. Then came college graduation and a career. There were no endless summers, only endless hours of work instead.

I got married young, and maybe there were a few years of "time" to myself, which actually translated to time to "ourselves" because once married, you kind of do things as a unit. But newbie workers don't get summers off, or even much more than a week of vacation to play with. So time rolled on by.

Then there was buying a house or two, working to save money to fix them up, or get them fixed up, and then bam, children arrived.  And I won't even talk about how fast those years go by. You stop thinking about summers altogether, and think of making it through each day (or night) with your sanity intact and your babies safe and well cared for.

It seems to happen overnight, the change from the physical of running around after your kids, picking their toys up, keeping them in clothes that fit, arranging play dates, to all the responsibility that comes with kids in school.

That begins a whole new set of challenges and a whole new schedule you need to adjust to.  Homework, school functions, volunteering at school to make sure you know who their friends are. Not to mention the after school activities and sports you need to get them to. Busy busy busy.

And then, all of a sudden your "kids" are grown men or women, not "kids" anymore at all. And you think hooray, it's time for life to finally slow down. You've raised them, taught them, provided for them, tried to motivate them by example....now they're off on their own and things will slow down for you right?

Wrong again.
Why didn't someone tell me that it doesn't work that way? That time actually goes faster as you age.  How is that even possible?

I wish I could slow it all down. I long for endless summers. I can smell the fresh cut grass, remember the feeling of the hot cement under my towel, kick ball games in the street, boredom.

But the reality is, I can't slow it down. No one can.

Which makes it even more important to savor every good moment. Even if life goes by too fast, we need to focus on what counts, and let the little things that stress us out, go.

Easier said than done, believe me, I know.

Slow down you move too fast. That song just keeps running through my head.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBQxG0Z72qM]