Two years ago, we were having a high school class reunion at the Marriott in Stone Mountain, Georgia. I graduated in 1976 when you wore red, white and blue and everyone had a flag on the porch. It was the American Bicentennial year.

So, we got to the Marriott and we were going through the conference center space; there were other conferences going on beside our reunion. The first group we came to had a sign out about a class reunion, so Elaine and I went over to the desk to sign up. They couldn’t find our name. Come to find out, it was different high school reunion from 1966. Ha. So walking up to that check in desk, I was thinking man these people really look old. Once I found out we were in the wrong place, I was actually relieved to move on to a group 10 years younger. We continued down the hallway to our reunion, and I looked at all of our people and thought good grief, we look as old as the other reunion.

Keep in mind that I still have not aged much (so I thought) but all of my graduation class members have. They were all gray headed, bald and carrying many more pounds; they were still trying to look younger, and it wasn’t working for them. We were, however, age appropriately dressed with no tight pants or short skirts.

So, I wondered how did all my friends get so old and then I realized I was right there with them.

If you are in your early 30s, the last 10 years went by in a blink of an eye. If you are in your early 40s, the last 15 years went by in a blink of an eye. If you are in your mid to late 50s like me, 20 years went by in a blink of an eye. To me, 1994 seems like yesterday, and I can remember everything about that period in my life. Then, I realized that in the same 20-year blink of an eye from 1994, I will be in my 70s.

The conclusion for me is that life is moving on at a very rapid pace, and no one has enough influence, power or money to stop it. We had better make the most of the time. One day, we will all be on the one-yard line of life wondering how it went by so fast.

My advice is to make a decision on who you want to be, what you want to be, and then start the process of becoming that person. KT