Our Most Precious Gift (Day 23)
Isn’t it crazy how fast time flies by once you’re on the other side of school?!? Since I’ve entered proper adulthood it seems like I blinked and suddenly I’m almost 30, my friends are getting married, having babies and yet it feels like just yesterday I was graduating high school, excited to embark on a new (and somewhat intimidating!) chapter. Now, I find myself back in my hometown for my 10 year (really 11) high school reunion. It’s been 11 years since I graduated high school, 7 years since I graduated college. Time, man! Where has it all gone?!
Being back in my hometown reunited with friends and family I haven’t seen in a while makes me reflect on the precious nature of time. There’s so many wonderful people whom I’ve forged relationships with over the years, some of whom we’ve since parted ways, others are still in my life in some way, shape or form, all of whom I’m grateful for. I’m sure you’ve heard that quote about friends for a ‘reason, season or lifetime,’ and as I’m on the precipice of wrapping up my 20s and starting a new decade of life, I can honestly say I’ve experienced them all. And then some! I’ve had friends for a reason, a season and a lifetime, all of whom have served important purposes in my life, all of whom I’ve shared wonderful memories with and have in some way shaped who I am today.
Beyond that, when I reflect on how precious our time on this earth really is, it makes me value time with people that much more. When you’re young you see the same people over and over, every day at school or practice or whatever it might be. It’s easy to take that for granted. Then the people you grew up with are suddenly off in a different city or state attending school and you’re off doing the same somewhere else. You’re only reunited at annual holiday ‘reunions’ or other functions that bring everyone home for a brief period of time. Every time that’s happened to me since I’ve gotten out of school I’ve always connected with someone whom I remember and we promise to ‘keep in touch’ but then life happens and the effort isn’t made and you drift apart once again, only to be reunited at next year’s ‘home for the holidays’ bash.
Nevertheless, I’m grateful for these connections and those fleeting moments of catching up and reminiscing. As you get older and time zips on by, you realize what a gift it really is. A gift that is to be shared with others and bestowed upon you as well. But a gift to be carefully given to those deserving of it. Because time is so precious it should be shared with those who honor and respect you and your time. Time is something you can’t get back so lean into those moments of carefree splendor with those who make everything around you disappear. Those who take you back to a time when there was less worry, stress, frustration and negativity in the world. Spend time with those who make time feel like it stands still…