Today or Tomorrow

     I often ponder the idea of time. Isn't it interesting how an hour can seem like a blink or can seem like an eternity. It boggles my mind how something so concrete can be perceived so differently. It seems as though the days that are cram packed with activity fly by and the days with nothing planned can drag on forever. Seems like the good passes quickly and the bad can linger on and on. Some people think its an age thing. They say that time goes quicker and quicker the older you get. "You just wait", they say. I beg to differ on this idea. My son who is 8 years old mentions the accelerated speed of life at least once a week. He is in disbelief at how quickly the school years are gone and how much quicker the summers pass. He often marvels at how quickly his sister has grown up. While on vacation he mentioned her being so grown several times, stating that he missed her being a baby. All this makes me wonder what the deal is. Are we so busy that we rush the time away. I once read that the days are long but the years are short. That really rang true for me. I often struggle to get through a particularly difficult work day or a day filled with two year old temper tantrums thinking that it may never pass. Then with the blink of an eye half the year has passed and the terrible twos are nearly gone. What's happening? One thing that I have noticed is that we live in constant anticipation of the future never really living in the day. I often hear people say,
"fall will be here before you know it" or "summers nearly over" when in actuality summer isn't even 1/3 of the way through. Here we are giving up on summer and moving right on in to fall when summer is just getting into full bloom. The same hold true with the holidays. We are pushed to begin celebrating months in advance which has trained our minds to live in constant fast forward. Are we missing out? Seems as though we would have to be. In our house we begin planning for a vacation 6-9 months in advance and by the time it gets here our children and us are ready to move on to the next thing, usually the next holiday. The energy and excitement has long worn off by the time the gifts are opened and the dinner is served at Christmas. All the clothes are bought months in advance for the next season some larger thinking that the kids will grow into them. We look ahead to movie openings and have read so much about them that by the time the premier comes we feel as though we have already watched the movie.  I hear myself say, Oh Macy will love that when she gets just a little older. I save mementos often thinking that Luke will cherish that someday when he's all grown up. I make lists and plans for what I want to do someday. I am beginning to worry that I am missing today and quite frankly that's all we really  have. Am I throwing out my chances at magical moments and pure fun to be a planner? to live in anticipation afraid of what I may miss out on in my future? I feel that I really have to stop. I want to try to live in today. I want to learn to soak up the present. I have been reading a book called The Happiness Project. I encourage you to check it out. It is very interesting and somewhat eye opening. It's just one woman's account of her pursuit for happiness. I find myself very different than her and realize that my happiness hinges on things other that what she writes about, but it has inspired me to open my eyes to the idea of true happiness and all that we may be missing out on. Our lives are so blessed we shouldn't miss a single moment of them. Its all been planned for us by the devine planner so we shouldn't worry so much and act as if tomorrow is riding on our shoulders. He will see to it that it all gets here in due time. I am trying to be more aware of this present moment phenomena. I will let you know how its going. What's you thoughts on the matter?