November 1.
Um, where did 2019 go? I mean seriously, wasn’t it just May? I know, I know — it’s one of the curses of getting older: Time speeds up and then flies out from under you. Maybe it was because hot weather hung on for so long this year. Maybe it is just because I have been so busy that I feel like a leaf in a hurricane. But this year has flown by.
Yesterday was a rough day for me mentally. We all have days like it — I was kicking myself because I need to be getting more accomplished, I can’t run the marathon this weekend I had been training on and honestly, I am worn out. I felt like I am running through a vat of chilled syrup. So this morning I was given an epiphany in the form of a song. I was listening to the new Hootie & The Blowfish album (which is pretty good and a hybrid between old Hootie and Darius Rucker’s country career.) The last song is called change — here’s the first verse:
“How can I pretend
That from the start until the end
I’ll get to keep the things I love
No matter how I plan
My world keeps shifting like the sand
When I try to hold on it all just slips away
And I pile my expectations
But winds of change come in and blow ’em down
As I grow old one thing stays the same
Always waiting there to meet me is change.”
The song goes on to hit me right between the eyes. I need to slow down — or at least find a way to slow time down. Or maybe I should just breathe and embrace the change. You know, enjoy the ride and quit worrying so much.
(inhales) In.
(exhales) Out.
In.
Out.
“I wish I had more time
I wish that I could be a smile
Out on this road alone
I wish that I could stay home a while
And as I grow old one thing stays the same
Always waiting there to meet me is change
Always waking up to greet me
Trying so damn hard to beat me
Always waiting there to greet me is change.”