Monday, October 03, 2011

Birthdays, Age, And Time

Yesterday, I celebrated my 56th birthday, but the strange part about it is that I actually forgot it was by birthday until I checked my emails in the morning and discovered a dear friend of mine had sent me a Happy Birthday wish.

DUH!

And I immediately thought to myself, “How the hell could you forget your own birthday, Ron?”

But then I remembered a time when I was a kid and my mother said something to the effect, “The older you get the less birthdays seem important.” However, at the time I thought she was NUTS because as a kid, you can’t WAIT until your birthday arrives so you can get birthday cards, a birthday cake, and TONS of presents.

I also remembered a time when I was a kid and my mother had forgotten her birthday, which I thought was totally INSANE because how could ANYONE forget their birthday????

Yet, here I was….forgetting my birthday too!

I pondered this throughout the day and began to wonder if why we get to the point where we forget our birthdays is because, as my mother shared, they just don’t seem so important anymore.

But WHY do they don’t seem so important anymore?

Could it be because of time?

Have you ever noticed how as we getting older, the more time seems to speed up?

As a kid, things like, waiting for our birthday, Christmas, summer vacation, or waiting to be old enough to get our driver’s license seemed to take an ETERNITY.

As kids, we seem to PUSH time away from us.

Yet, as adults, we seem to PULL time toward us.

So, the older we get….time seems to get closer.

And faster.

And shorter.

Therefore, we lose track of time.

Therefore, lose track of our birthdays.

Therefore, lose track of their importance.

Which is a good thing.

Which is why I should continue to forget my birthdays…..