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(March 4, 2006)
As a young man I remember my father complaining to me about how fast time was passing. Being at the same stage of life as when he spoke these words to me I can now truly understand what he was talking about. Time is passing faster than I can ever remember. As a child I felt as if time stood still. School hours dragged on forever and summer vacation always seemed so far away. As an adolescent each milestone of aging seemed to take forever to arrive, while college and medical school days seemed more like decades than merely four years each. Time seemed to accelerate somewhat in my thirties and forties yet I was not aware of feeling any motion as time moved forward. Suddenly, in my fifties, I felt a stir. Where had the time gone? How was it that my children were now fully grown and no longer living in my home? How did it happen that I was spending more time talking to my friends about health issues than about almost anything else? Now that I am in my mid sixties, time is moving even faster, causing occasional dizziness. Time feels much like a rewinding tape, beginning ever so slowly but gaining speed at it nears the end. When I wrote 2006 on my first check this year, it looked strange to me. Where has the time gone? As I notice this acceleration of time, I try more than ever to enjoy and savor each moment of each day. Unfortunately, despite my attempts to become more aware of my days in hopes of slowing time, I do not believe I have been successful. And so I have come to realize that while I cannot slow time, I can at least live well as it rushes onward. After all is said and done, it is not how we start in life; it is how we end that really matters most. With close to 80 million baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) reaching these fast fleeting years, I believe this issue of ending well will become an important theme in our society. But what does ending well really mean? It has been said that our days are like scrolls and that we should write on them only what we want remembered. As we age, it becomes imperative that we live our lives in such a manner that those we leave behind someday will remember us as kind, compassionate, honest, ethical and loving. Getting older also means getting smarter. As we age, we can avoid the many mistakes of our youth. We can do what is right and what will be remembered as noble and pure. We can also take stock of our lives and begin planning to do the things we have always wanted to do: the trips we have not taken, the hobby or activity we have always wanted to participate in, the quality time we have wanted to spend with children, grandchildren or friends are just a few examples. There is much more for each of us to consider as we plan to end well. We can set aside a special time each week to turn inward and reflect on the uniqueness of each day and the grandeur of our surroundings. The cathedral that God has given us needs our attention. A walk or hike in parks and meadows, fishing in a nearby pond, watching the sun rise and set, a sunset spin on a glass like surfaced lake, or attending a place of worship on the Sabbath are just a few examples of how we can live and end well. Most importantly, we need to take time to focus on those we love and to make sure that they know we love them. Love, after all, is the most important ingredient of living well. If there is love in our lives, each and every day will be enriched. If we enhance our days with awareness, fulfillment, integrity and love, then when the passage of our time comes to an end, those who know and love us will know we have ended well and that our time on earth was spent wisely. |
