Day 306: Where Did Those 15 Years Go?
Yesterday morning, as I was proofreading my email to you, I was trying to remember exactly how many years I had had the storage unit.
And all of a sudden, it dawned on me that I have now been back in Cabo for 15 years.
I blinked, thinking something in my mind had gotten it wrong. That wasn't possible; it couldn't be.
How did 15 years go by so quickly?
I still remember putting everything in the back of the car. And then the night before leaving, buying a small cargo trailer so I could bring some art and all my boxes of books.
It's funny how we can compartmentalize things to recognize how long we've been doing some things and not connect what that means to other areas of our lives.
I'm fully aware that I've had my rental business for going on 12 years now.
And I know I closed my business in the spring of 2012. And then realized I could stop sharing what my experiences and passions had taught me and started blogging on Ageless Lifestyle After 50 in 2014.
But somehow I hadn't really connected it to how long I've been back in a place that months before I moved back to, I said I'd never go back, because, been there-done that.
And then there's another part of me that forgets that I ever left. It feels like I've been here the entire time since I first moved to Cabo in 1991.
Our minds can do funny things for us. To give us absolute clarity in some areas and then make things a little fuzzy when that seems best for us.
Although I'm not sure how it decides what's best or why.
How is it that time seems to go fast and slow at the same time, depending on what we're doing or looking at?
To me, it goes back to where our focus and our energy are going.
If we're engaged in something we're passionate about, it's like time slows down, and being able to spend an hour or two doing it feels like we spent several more hours than we actually did.
I find myself sometimes wondering how I fit so many things in just a few hours. I seem to fly through accomplishing some tasks. Because I'm enjoying what I'm doing.
And then other things, like recording the master class I'm doing my final edits on today, seem like I've been doing it for a month, when it's been more like 10 hours.
It's been so long since I've recorded video with slides that I can't even remember when the last time was.
I'll tell you one thing. It made me really wish we could go back to the days of teleseminars, when everything didn't need to be on video.
I lose track of who I want to say when I need to pay attention to moving slides, so then I get nervous, and the whole thing feels so unnatural, which is the last thing you want.
That kind of task for me feels like I've spent way more time on it than I actually have because I don't enjoy it.
But here's the interesting part. I love teaching. I love sharing what I've learned and helping women recognize things about themselves they may never have considered before.
And I'm really excited about this master class and what I know it can help women do.
It's just the process of recording it with slides that I don't particularly enjoy.
So, in one situation, I've spent 15 years living in a place I love, doing so many of the things I enjoy, and somehow those years have slipped by almost without my noticing.
In another, I've spent about ten hours doing something that doesn't feel natural to me, and I could swear I've been working on it for weeks.
Same clock. Same calendar. Very different experience.
And it makes me wonder how often we look at our lives in terms of how much time has passed without really considering how we've experienced that time.
Because those 15 years haven't been empty. I've built businesses, closed businesses, learned new things, changed directions, and created a lifestyle that suits me better than anything I could have imagined when I packed that car to move back here.
Yet when I realized yesterday that 15 years had passed, my first reaction was to wonder where all that time had gone.
It was a good reminder to appreciate the life I'm living while I'm living it, instead of only recognizing how much I've enjoyed it when I look back years later.
And maybe that's the real gift in noticing how strangely time passes. It reminds us that the hours and years are going by whether we're paying attention to them or not.
I'd like to be paying attention.
Today's Gentle Practice
Think about a period of your life that seems to have passed surprisingly quickly.
Ask yourself:
When I look back at that time, what am I grateful I got to experience?
Remember the ordinary days as well as the big events. The people, the places, the decisions, and the little things that made up your everyday life.
And see if you can bring some of that same appreciation to the day you're living right now.
With you,
Lynn
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