Time…where does it go, anyway? It just seems like with every day that passes there is less and less of it. If you are like me, you have a hard time getting a grip on the past and living in the moment before it becomes the past. The future…well it just steamrolls on through and overtakes the present and becomes the past almost before we see it.

I think about my earliest memories, some of which I can conjure up and get the feeling like the event was yesterday. Think with me of your earliest independent memory, one that is only in your mind, not prompted by a photograph. How many years does it take you back? Most of your entire life, right? Now, does it make you wonder where all that time went?

Sometimes I feel like entire blocks of time are missing from my memory. In a way, memory could be a whole other blog topic. No wonder time has gone so fast with big chunks of it missing. Sometimes what is missing is periods of time that were difficult and painful. That might be a good thing to have missing. Other periods of time certainly contained enjoyable events, growth periods, amazing interactions with others and they went by too quickly.

Then there are very recent blocks of time; a long weekend or a day I have looked forward to for a while. Why does the time leading up to vacation go by so slowly? Why does the actual vacation go so fast. I don’t think I ever find myself, while on vacation, saying, “the clock is moving so slowly.” It happens when I’m working, but not when I recreating, rejuvenating, or refreshing. “There were so many things I planned on doing that I just didn’t get to do.” Have you ever said that after some time off of work?

Here are some lyrics by Robert Lamm of the band Chicago. 

“As I was walking down the street one day
A man came up to me and asked me what the time was that was on my watch, yeah
And I said

Does anybody really know what time it is (I don't)
Does anybody really care (care about time)
If so I can't imagine why (no, no)
We've all got time enough to cry

And I was walking down the street one day (people runnin' everywhere)
Being pushed and shoved by people (don't know where to go)
Trying to beat the clock, oh, no I just don't know (don't know where I am)
I don't know, I don't know, oh (don't have time to think past the last mile)
(Have no time to look around) And I said, yes I said (run around and think why)

Does anybody really know what time it is (I don't)
Does anybody really care (care about time)
If so I can't imagine why (no, no)
We've all got time enough to die.”

Here is where you might be expecting me to make some faith connection to time. However, I’m not going to do that. Rather, I am going to take more time and sit with this topic in hopes of slowing things down. I’m also going to ask if you have any advice on making the clock of life tick more slowly than it does. Share your thought, your ideas, your strategies, and your inventions that affect time in your life. Take some time to share them with us in the comments. We would love to hear from you.

As always, thanks for taking the time to read this,