James P. Whipple

I was in a store last week getting things for a birthday party. I noticed that the store had already put out its Halloween supplies, not only that but there were Christmas items such as lights and tinsel and a laughing Santa. This was all before the first of September.

Somehow our lives have started to escalate. The year, at times, seems that instead of 12 months there is only six. I wonder if it’s true that as you get older time goes more quickly. Researchers say that there is no clear answer.

Dr. George Simon, who has a Ph.D. in Psychology, put it this way, “When you’re five years old, a year is one-fifth of your life. That makes it seem like an impossibly long time, especially if you’re five and have to wait until next year for something you really want. In comparison, when you’re 20, a year is only one-20th of your life, and while the days don’t exactly fly by yet, a year doesn’t seem like the eternity it was at five. By the time you’re 50, and a year is only one-50th of the time you’ve experienced, a year whips by pretty quickly.”

In a way, that is true. I remember the long hot summers. Everything then seemed to move in sync, so to speak. In mid-April, the baseball season started and was over by the second week of September. The Washington Redskins opened there season on Sept. 15 and played their last game on Dec. 11. Today, the sports seasons all overlap each other making it seem as if they play year round.

I also notice that problems in life seemed to go on forever. I worried about this and that. Today, I look at a problem and think in a day or a week this problem will be gone. It has made life more bearable. As a friend of mine Paul put it: “The good Lord gave me a brain that works so fast that in one moment, I can worry as much as it would take others a whole year to achieve.”

As I have gotten older, I also notice how much more important relationships are. They seem to last longer and there is a deeper understanding of others’ feelings.

It seems that in life, time goes by faster, and people seem to move in and out of life very quickly some times and other times, they seem to last. I try very hard never to miss the opportunity to tell my friends how much they matter to me.

One thing I have noticed. Even though as I get older and life seems to march faster on, I am still fascinated with new gadgets – cell phones, I pods and computers. Dave, another friend, noted: “No matter how fast your computer system runs, you will eventually come to think of it as slow.” And so life goes on.

Mark Victor Hansen, an American inspirational and motivational speaker, summed up getting older this way: “Now is the only time there is. Make you’re now wow, your minutes miracles, and your days pay. Your life will have been magnificently lived and invested, and when you die you will have made a difference.”

True words to live by.