Why is it when we were children, it seemed to take forever
for school to get out or the holidays to come? We counted down to our birthdays
and “Are we there yet?” was the hallmark of a road trip. Everything took longer
and time seemed to stand still.
Then we grew up, got jobs and started our own families. Time
flew by. One day I woke up and I was 35 years old. And yes, like most of us, it
seemed like just yesterday I was graduating. What the hell happened to the last
15 years?!
It’s a blur. One big foggy blur with a few little memories
woven in. Some are pretty special
memories, like my two daughters being born. But in 15 years, I can only think
of a handful of memories. Why? Because all I did, it seemed, was work. First
professionally; then being a mom.
Let me cut to the chase: Children live in the moment; and we
adults do not. Our heads are almost always somewhere else. Thinking about what
we need to do next or how am I going to handle this? Children on the other
hand, take moment by moment. Every moment they are alive and their imaginations
are ignited. You remember, don’t you? Being a kid with some water, dirt and a
bucket. That was a good moment.
Now I’m sure you’ve read “A New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle like
many of us. If you haven’t, you should. Nothing helps you understand the
importance of today like this book. In fact, I don’t think I would have ever
broken the cycle of “adulthood” without it. Anyway, we all know the power of
now.
We moved to Portland last fall. I noticed something about
our move a couple of weeks ago. It had only been eight months since our move
and yet it seemed like it had been a long time, years in fact. I realized I had
dozens of memories, more than I could count, from the last eight months.
Compare that to the last 15 years and it sort of left me curious.
First, I realized whenever you move or do something
adventurous, you are forced to live in the moment. Second, whenever you do
something different you remember it. I realized somehow memories that are
created are somehow attached to time span, or lack thereof.
So long story short, about two weeks ago I started doing
something as a test. Each night before I went to bed I asked myself one
question:
“What did I do today that I will never forget?”
I kept a short journal of it (I hate writing long journal
entries, so it had to be short). The first few days were easy. But then I
started to worry that I wouldn’t have something to write in my journal that
night. So I started looking around for opportunities to do something that I would
remember. My imagination got ignited. I lived in the moment seeing things I was
not seeing before.
Here are my journal entries:
- § Went to Japanese Gardens, fulfilling a dream I’ve had.
- § Sang “Defying Gravity” with girls in the car. Moved to tears.
- § Troy and I walked in the rain together.
- § Coerced Jillian to walk home with me from soccer practice.
- § Had the best Thai soup ever that Victor made.
- § Troy’s back tire on bike exploded. Very close call.
- § Walked to Starbucks with Heather. Did something silly I can’t make public.
- § Went to first Bikram Yoga class. Hated it.
- § Approached sick man at mall. Hope he’s ok.
- § Lied on grass and watched the clouds roll by while listening to “Fast Car.”
- § Bottle-fed two 4-day old kittens at animal shelter.
- § Got a spray tan. What was I thinking??
- § Finally got passports for the girls!
After two weeks, I thought back. Gee, these last two weeks
seemed exceptionally long. And it wasn’t like I hiked Mt. Everest or swam with
the dolphins. It was just paying attention to my life. It was also acknowledging
that every day counts. That I wasn’t about to let even one day slip by and call
it part of the daily grind. You’re not going to wait until the big vacation to
make memories.
Something interesting could happen at work or in the car or
at the mall shopping. Even when it’s 6:00 PM and you think nothing has
happened, you just say to yourself: “The day isn’t over yet.” And you start to
look harder. You might even do something spontaneous or do something you’ve
been putting off. What’s extra fun is realizing that some days there are
multiple experiences to choose from when it comes time to write in your journal.
So if you want to slow down the clock (without having to
take the batteries out), ask yourself:
“What did I do today that I will never forget?”
Chances are, quite a bit.
