Its About Time. Looking Back on Life, Moving On

Its About Time. Looking Back on Life, Moving On

“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on” ~ Robert Frost

 

God must chuckle about us, I’m sure he does. Quite often in fact. And why not? We give him an endless supply of comic material. Besides that, He loves us the way we love our kids. He thinks we’re all adorable.

 

Think about it. From the moment we’re born, we’re in a huge rush to get bigger, older, faster. Hurry to the next stage and then the next. As parents, we encourage “big boy” stuff and if we’re honest, we take pride in how early our little ones walk, talk, read. You know, parental one-upsmanship.

 

Remember the eternity that separated us from getting our driver’s license once our friends got theirs? I sure do. Back then, five months was forever. But if it’s five months until our husband is deployed or our child leaves home, it’s a blink. Time is a chameleon!

 

Time marches on, ready or not

 

You can’t turn back the clock. But you can wind it up again.”~Bonnie Prudden

 

Push, hurry, rush. And suddenly, before we know what hit, we reach a point in our life when time kicks into high gear at moves at the speed of light. Are you with me? Who hasn’t uttered the words “life goes way too fast?” And, the older we get, the faster it seems to zip by. For all the years spent pushing to “get there”; the degree, the house, the bigger house, the better car, the promotion, all of a sudden we find ourselves at a point where we want to pull back on the reins and say “whoa!”

 

Once in a while, something comes along and lights up a brain cell we’ve had simmering on a back burner and suddenly there’s a pang of desire to turn back the clock. Hell, to turn back the calendar- sometimes a few decades! It may be the sight of a new mother with her precious babe in arms or watching an elderly parent struggle to walk.

 

Today, it happened to me when I watched a video, a musical tribute to a stretch of time in my youth, a sweet parenthesis in my life. Steve Lungrin is a gifted singer-pianist-songwriter. His family was intertwined with ours on several levels. Most significantly, we were across-the-street retailers from each other in our little downtown district. As I watched, I was transported back through time to those memorable days as a main-street mom and pop business.

 

Change, for bitter or better. Our choice.

 

Here is Steve’s video. He has it set so you can listen to the song as soon as you press play. If you want the backstory, and I hope you do, slide back to the start and watch how a song is born. Downtown Main Street.

 

There’s always a nostalgic quality surrounding the Christmas season. Most of us drift back to the way things used to be with fondness. But not every Christmas memory is a sweet one. Some elicit a smile and others make the tears roll.

 

However, psychologists suggest that humans have a great capacity for looking back on our past through the lenses of rose-colored glasses. Blessedly, we’re often able to forget or minimize the difficulties we experienced during that time. This allows us to recall only the highlight reel and picture it softer and more blissful. It may be as simple as now we know how things turned out. We came through it ok so we’re able to forget the scary parts. In the here and now, we can’t see the outcome – yet.

 

 

It’s About Time

 

“As time goes on, you’ll understand. What lasts, lasts; what doesn’t, doesn’t. Time solves most things. And what time can’t solve, you have to solve yourself.”~ Haruki Murakami

 

So what is the takeaway from this nostalgic trip down memory lane? It is this. Change is the one thing we can count on. Things never stay the same and life is not meant to be lived in a frozen state. We’re all travelers here, on our way to our eternal home. In the words of Jim Rohn, it’s vital that we “remain fascinated instead of frustrated” with the kaleidoscope of our existence.

 

I asked permission to share a very wise observation, a comment on Steve’s song. “I look to the past with fondness and to the future with curiosity, but things change and this is a reminder that change is okay too.”~Wendy Hoge McKenzie. Thanks, Wendy, I love that part about looking to the future with curiosity!

 

One time only, a shameless plug

 

I cannot resist sharing my own bit of nostalgia here and yes, a shameless plug. “Due to popular demand” as they say, I reprinted the little hometown cookbook from Betty Jane’s tenth-anniversary celebration. It has the backstory of our business and loads of old photos and hand-drawn illustrations. We sold well over 1000 in the first printing. I still have some copies of the second edition which would make great Christmas gifts. We’re selling them for the 1998 price of just $16. Over 300 recipes, real food from real folks. Let me know if you’d like to order! See you Monday when I’ll tell you about an awesome retro rewind my sister-in-law and brother pulled off this year!!