Celebration count down day 2: Time

 I decided to give the world some birthday presents leading up to my birthday. Yesterday I gave you Lucille Clifton.

Today I wanted to give you the gift of the passage of time. It seemed fitting since this set of posts is about birthdays, the turn of the year.

I struggle with time, I think most of us do. There's too little of it, where did it go, I can't believe it. It can be hard. What's more, time seems utterly inexorable and unforgiving. And if you start to delve into the theories of it, well, that could take all the time in the world.

But time is a gift. It means that no matter where we are in our lives, things will change. No matter your grief, your pain, your sorrow, it will alter. Equally, it means that no matter your joy, your delight, your pleasure, that too, is mutable. Time is the great equalizer, reminding us all that each moment is precious. And we get to choose how we spend the time of our lives.

I fail to do this every day. But when I remember, when I choose, it makes all the difference. My daily commute, stuck in traffic and cursing other drivers, becomes instead a chance to muse, a chance to consider how the roadway is different today from yesterday. My frustrations with the everyday routine instead each become opportunities to greet them differently. My loves become more precious.

You can do this, too. Time is a gift. It helps us remember that while we are finite, we are capable of wonders in midst of the infinite.

(c)2012 Laura S. Packer