Friday, December 2, 2011

The Days are Long, but the Years are Short

So when I posted my little rant yesterday, I noticed that all the ages in my profile were wrong. I'm *gulp* 35 now, Supergirl is 9 and Wildman is 5. (We all have Fall birthdays, so we've each had a birthday since my last post.) I just changed them, and it reminded me of this idea from the book The Happiness Project - that the days are long, but the years are short. Incidentally, I really liked The Happiness Project. I had heard of it, but I wouldn't have picked it up except that my local book club chose it as their book for November. What's funny is that I REALLY liked it - like took notes (which I NEVER do), planning my own Happiness Project - liked it. And the rest of the group (y'know, the people who chose to read it), didn't like it. In fact, several of them REALLY disliked it. It's so funny, I like this group, but I am often out-of-step with them. The books they love, I generally dislike, and the books I love, they generally dislike. Oh well, it's still fun to go talk about books.

Anyway, the idea in The Happiness Project, that the days are long but the years are short - it's basically saying that sometimes we can barely drag ourselves through the day (and by "we", I mean "I"), but the years fly by like nothing. Ain't that the truth?! I cannot believe that my kids are 9 and 5 now. It seems like no time has passed since I was pregnant, or holding a little teeny baby. When I think about how long it's been since college, or high school, or being a teenager, or my childhood - well. It's surprising, is what it is. The other day, we were at lunch and there was a tv with some news program on and they were talking about John Hinckley's request to spend more time out of the mental institution that he was sentenced to after he shot President Regan 30 years ago. And it was so shocking to me that the shooting was 30 years ago. I remember when that happened. Granted, it's the first national news story that I can remember, but holy cats! That's 30 years ago now. I remember in my mid-twenties when I realized that some of the things I remembered had happened 20 years ago and it was so surprising because 20 sounds like such a huge number. I'm having the same feeling now with 30 years. It is WEIRD to realize that something I remember happened 30 years ago. I guess it's that, in the abstract, the phrase, "30 years ago" sounds like ancient history. And when I put it into perspective and realize that something I remember personally happened "30 years ago", it's a little shocking. But, life goes on, right? I don't have a problem with being 35, I'm happy with my life and what I'm doing with it, but it does sound like a long time when I think about it. (So I shouldn't think about it, right?!)

4 comments:

Swistle said...

What keeps startling me are those signs that say you have to have been born after [date] to drink, buy cigarettes, whatever. The date is always so RECENT!! OMG, you can drink if you were born in NINETEEN NINETY??? You can drive if you were born in NINETEEN NINETY-FIVE??

It's going to be even more startling when those dates start with 20___.

Shelly said...

Swistle - I know EXACTLY what you mean! I work in HR, and administer new hire paperwork, which of course includes the new hire's birth date. It is startling to me that we're hiring people born in the '90s!

Anonymous said...

Twice in one week? Is it Xmas already??!

I exactly get what you and Swistle are saying. The "of age" kids these days - holy crap - I was in college when they were born. Ouch!

Shelly said...

Shelly - I was so excited about your comment that I posted again!

I know! My two closest co-workers were born in 1988 and 1989! It's crazy!