By Rosie Preston
Time is often measured as the seconds keeps ticking, as often witnessed by watching the second hand on a clock.
Many important events in my life were measured exactly to the second. There are two events which I experienced I thought I’d never forget – the birth of my two children. The time might be recorded on their birth certificates, but I can only guess.
Rachel was born a few minutes after 8 a.m. and Joseph a few minutes after 7 a.m. A rollercoaster is the only way I can compare the labor and the screams I shouted as pain would slowly begin to envelope my body – slowly pulling up to the very top and suddenly speeding down the hill as fast as possible. After experiencing my first rollercoaster ride in Panama City Beach, Florida, I rode it three times in a row afterwards because how excited I was. I wasn’t that excited after giving birth, as I recall.
It reminds me of a way to measure the time of both our past and immediate present – which I’m writing in now and during which I never seem to have enough of to accomplish everything done in one day – and the future. I have a daily list of things I want to accomplish so that day, and that night or the next morning, I look at it again and mark a few things off that I consider done. I look over the rest of the list and see if I can delegate some help from my husband, or perhaps from the lady who often helps me clean my house.
There is so much to look on and question the why’s and how’s that involve so many choices. I regretted many of those choices and had to live with that knowledge and continue to learn that word “time” is ticking nonstop.
My dad and I used to sit in an outside swing when I was a teenager and he shared some wisdom, most to which, of course, I could not understand. One of the things he shared was, “As you get older, time goes by very quickly.”
At that age of a young teenager, it was as if I was always waiting on turning older. I think the main reason for that was I wanted to turn 16 in order to be drive a car by myself. When that day came, my dad surprised me with a 1964 turquoise blue Comet Convertible with a white top.
My friends and I thought about time quite a bit, especially when there would be two or three of them sitting on top of the backseat of the car as I swayed and as they screamed. If I’d had any idea of what I was doing, I probably wouldn’t have continued doing what I thought of as “fun!”
Many years ago, I began collecting gift cards written by Gary Patterson that are filled with wisdom and humor. I’ll share a few of his words: “Courage is the inner strength needed to withstand danger when something you value is threatened, be it life, liberty or your rubber duckie. Courage does not involve the absence of fear but the overcoming of fear. If you can stand on a skyscraper ledge in a snowstorm and feel no fear, it does not mean you are courageous; it means that you are really stupid!”
To be continued
Keep smiling, Rosie
Contact Rosie Preston at prestonrose.m@gmail.com.
