GREENSBORO, N.C. — lt is time for my "2 cents."
"Life goes faster than you think. Don't blink."
Kenny Chesney famously sang those lyrics. They are two words of wisdom passed along by every seasoned parent to a new one, and it doesn't take long to discover what they mean.
It seems like yesterday, I was walking down the aisle to marry my soulmate. I blinked, and we've become parents to three blessings.
It seems like yesterday we were bringing the youngest of them home from the hospital. I blinked, and she is now three months old, and I'm sitting here -- at my newsroom desk -- writing this editorial.
Where did the time go? Why do we feel an ache that accompanies nostalgia?
In a book called Making Time, psychology professor Steve Taylor explains as we age, things and people around us become familiar. Our brains process less new information, making time feel fleeting. His recommended antidote -- mindfulness.
Yet try as we might to stretch the perception of time, we cannot reverse the wheels of time, itself. Even Chesney knew his hit song was largely tongue-in-cheek.
We have no choice but to blink -- to let life roll on. But, in between those blinks, we can open our eyes a little wider, committing precious moments to memory and positively anticipating life's next chapter.
I know now what you might already have figured out -- each stage of parenthood really does get sweeter, and oftentimes, the best is yet to come.
Sincerely,
Meghann