Imagine that you only have a year left to live. I know someone who learned a few months ago that he had brain cancer and his life expectancy is an optimistic 12 months. To my friend’s credit, he has been living each day with an amazing cheerfulness and tenacity that I wonder if I could muster in the same position.
So, when I think about having 3 more years before I can retire, I am thinking of him and remembering that nothing is permanent. While I dream about living a life without a boss and having to respond to daily work demands – what if I didn’t make it another 3 years? I would have squandered my final days wishing for a future that never comes.
When I was younger I never thought I’d make it to retirement. That was probably a huge blessing because I didn’t begin dwelling on it until about 3 years ago (when I thought I was going to be able to retire in 3 years. Hmmmmm) Those 3 years went by pretty quickly, they did.
And because time goes by so fast and because nothing in our lives is permanent, we can slow everything down a notch by mindfully living as much as possible in the present moment. Like we did when we were children. That’s why time went by so slowly then.
Ironically, anxiety and worry can shorten our lives, too. How sad would it be to gnash my teeth in resistance to what is for the next 3 years and then drop dead the day I retire? It happens.
Right now I’m enjoying a cloudy, warm Seattle evening. I just finished a wonderful meal of grilled fresh Columbia River salmon cooked on my Big Green Egg. The French doors in my dining room are opened to the sound of the pond’s waterfall and my windows are framed by the rich, deep green/yellow of maples and other growing things. This moment is perfect and so is this moment and so is this moment.
