When I was a child, I was like most kids who celebrate Christmas. As soon as the decorations went up, usually right after Thanksgiving, I would start asking my mom daily when Christmas was going to arrive. It seemed like it would NEVER get here, as I complained about how slowly the calendar was flipping. My mom would always tell me to just wait; as I get older time will go by in a flash, she would say. I didn’t believe her then, but now I definitely understand what she was talking about.
I can’t believe that we are already in October! I just blinked and it was 2025, and now we are in the fourth quarter. I am getting ready to order my 2026 planner. It seems unreal, and part of me wants to beg time to stand still for awhile. But being a superstitious person, and believing that the universe hears our thoughts and wishes, I don’t want to do anything to jinx myself, or bring a permanent stop to time in my life. Each day truly is a gift, and not a gift that is guaranteed to everyone, as the story below will illustrate.
One of the reasons we may feel that time is going by too quickly is because we pack our days so full. Between work, commuting to and from (oh how I miss the days of working from home!), family commitments and social activities, the days are filled to the brim. It seems like we just wake up and it is time to crawl back into our beds at night. We are really spreading ourselves very thin these days, and giving away pieces of our time to others and the world, while keeping very little for ourselves. I hope that someday we don’t look back and wonder where all the pieces went.
Last year I learned the shocking news that a long time co-worker died unexpectedly. She was younger than me, which increased the shock factor. I worked with her since the early 2000s, and she was such a dedicated company person and a true team player. I remember one time I had paged her on a Saturday (yes, this goes back to the days of paging, not texting!) and she called me back from the grocery store. As I told her what I needed, she called over one of the grocery store employees to put her cart in the freezer so she could run to the office (before laptops!) and immediately take care of my request, and then she would come back and finish up her shopping. I kept insisting I could wait but in her mind it could not, and she left everything behind to take care of business. I remember her southern accent so clearly as she told me “don’t you worry…I’ll take care of it”.
As I thought about her that weekend after learning of her passing, I was reminded of the following poem. My company had lost a dedicated employee; someone who gave up pieces of her weekend and personal time to take care of business. But the hard truth is, they now had a position to fill to keep business flowing. I am sorry but that is the harsh reality. The real tragedy lies with her daughters and grand babies who now have to live the rest of their lives without her presence. I am sure they miss her every single day.
The unexpected death of someone, especially a younger person, always brings about reflection in our own lives and how we are spending our time and to whom we are giving pieces of ourselves. I hope the people you are sharing pieces of your time and your lives with are worthy and appreciative. We cannot give away so much of ourselves that we start to become bitter or angry toward life, or the important people in our lives. If your time is taken up doing things that you do not want to be doing, such as going to a job that you hate or attending social events when you would rather be at home snuggled up on the couch, that is when things start to chip away at us. Once we start allowing ourselves to be chipped away, we start to become weaker and less effective at everything. A weaker person is more vulnerable to attack, and that is when stress starts to manifest itself inside of us in harmful ways. So what is our best defense? We need to take stock of the things in life that are really important to us and decide where we want to spend our time. . If pieces of us are missing or we are spread too thin, it is hard to be kind to others as we get into a self protective and defensive mode. The more of ourselves that we hold onto, the more we have to give to others. It is easier to be happier, and kinder, when we are in one whole piece and not scattered all over. So share yourself with others, but don’t lose yourself in the process. And don’t forget to keep some of the pieces of yourself for yourself.
Pieces of Us
We all give so much of our time
To others every day.
What pieces do we keep for ourselves?
What do we take away?
What pieces of us do we keep
And what do we hold dear?
Where do we draw the line and say,
“I have no more to spare”?
We spend so much time at work each week
But if we passed away,
Our family would grieve forever.
Our boss would replace us the next day.
We stress over work deadlines
That interfere with health.
We sacrifice our own good will
Just to increase our wealth.
What good is it to have that house
With all that extra space?
We could enjoy the benefits
If we’d just slow our pace.
We say yes to invites
When we really should say no.
We dread it until the time comes near
But yet we always go.
We spend our weekends doing chores
Instead of recreation.
It’s taking pieces of our lives
But we don’t see the degradation.
And then suddenly the time is gone
As we deal with the strife.
We wonder where the pieces went
In the puzzle of our life.
We try to hold on a little more
As we pine for one more day.
But there is nothing left of us anymore;
We gave it all away.
-K.A. Bloch-
