The holidays are here, and it has me thinking about two things: what I’m thankful for and time.
We were expecting a second child this year, with a due date originally set for Thanksgiving. However, complications along the way changed how we’ll be celebrating the holidays now. It is quieter than we’d hoped, and we’ve been through that heartbreak before, but with that deeper reflection on how fortunate we really are for all that we do have.
My daughter’s my world, and everything along the way has strengthened my appreciation for the miracle of her coming into our lives. As much as she’ll always be my little girl, as the years go by, she’s not as little anymore. Time flies, and with it increasingly fewer opportunities to build wonderful childhood memories and as many life advantages I can give her. The odds grow longer and time shorter for any brothers or sisters. With each new birthday behind (make it 40 for me this year), less remain ahead. As bills pile up, fewer family vacations. As work days get longer, less time for us all to play. But as her bedtime books remind me, if the clock hasn’t struck twelve yet and there are still stars in the sky, dreams can still come true.
So I know what I’m thankful for, and even all to wish and work for. Maybe that’s half the battle, but it’s going to take more like a full-time effort.
Some fear the ancient Mayan calendar predicts time will run out for all of us in 2012, but I don’t believe any of us know when our clock will stop ticking. If there was anything you wanted to accomplish this year, though, you’d better get on that.
I have something like that. Something I’ve been thinking on for a while, that’s been one of those wish-I-may-wish-I-mights — along with a galaxy of other maybe-someday ideas filling scribbled notebooks collecting dust. But there’s just something about this year, all things considered, that’s bringing on a greater sense of urgency.
And I love the motivational imagery of trying to beat the clock before striking 12 on the twelfth month of this 2012th year, which has me setting a deadline of 12-12-2012 to make something happen. To make this year more memorable for what began rather than what didn’t. Who knows if ’13 will bring better luck, as the future is unwritten, but I do know there is still time enough to do something about that right now.
