Time

It flies when you’re having fun, doesn’t it?

It waits for no man. And no woman.

The years, they go quicker when you get older, don’t they?

Our body clocks, they’re meant to be ticking, right?

Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick…. (anyone else seeing old men, surfboards, horses, pints? Legendary advert)

Whatever the cliché, the message is the same. TIME IS RUNNING OUT MY GOOD PEOPLE. But time for what?  

NYE outfit?

The career break?

Babies?

A catch up with a long lost friend?

Spending time with your loved ones?

Learning a new skill?

Whatever it is, people will always tell you that time is just rushing by and they don’t have time for [something], because they are so busy with [other things].

I’m the worst culprit. I sat down with Kim on New Year’s Eve 2010/2011 and went through my iPhone calendar with her and we talked about all the amazing things I had planned for 2011 and we agreed that it’d be NYE 2011/2012 before we knew it. And do you know what? It nearly is! How did that happen? I started writing this post in October, having thought about it in June. And now it’s nearly January. Yikes.

That was a conversation I’ll never forget, but I suspect it’s one she’d very much like to.

(As a quick aside, we were concealing her very early pregnancy from the party so I turned up with the usual alcohol provisions for us both so as not to arouse suspicion, and then, being the good bestie that I am, I ploughed my way through the entire lot single handedly, again, purely for selfless reasons. By the time we had the conversation about how UHHHHH-MAAAAAAY-ZIIIIING 2011 was going to be, I think I was well on the way to full on alcohol poisoning. Kim was still very much in the world of sobriety and trying very hard to deflect the attention from us as I slipped in to what can only be described as a parallel universe where I re-visited my teenage “20-20 and various snaffled spirits” years. Yes, there was vomit. Yes, that vomit was other-worldly in its hue. Yes, that neon vomit ended up on my person, the host’s carpet, and Kim’s poor husband, who really took one for the team that night. Unlike Mr G who had to head home early from his yearly NYE night shift to supervise my alcohol-induced coma-like state, but chose to retreat to the spare bedroom as I apparently assaulted and insulted all his senses. I think that day our marriage vows really were tested. 24 hours later I was still being sick, two days later I was still unable to eat, and three months later not a single drop of alcohol had passed my lips. Oh, and to add further insult to injury, this whole drama took place with me dressed in a full-on Marie Antoinette costume. Obvs.)

Anyway, back to the original topic. We spent a long time that night discussing how we had so much to look forward to, but also how little time we’d have to do it all.

And therein lies my problem. I have so much going on, I’m doing so much, seeing so much, spending so much time on “stuff” that sometimes I feel like I haven’t spent enough time just chilling out, or just having sofa time with my hubby, visiting elderly relatives for a cup of tea, or enjoying the simple things, like doing a puzzle with a friend or cooking breakfast with the family. Or, you know what, just taking the time to savour the things that I do, rather than rushing through them to the next thing.

For example, I went to Rio carnival this year. For many that is a life dream. I was so involved in the “waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, let’s go to Ipanema, where’s my glitter face paint?, quick, get tickets for the Christ the Redeemer bus” I didn’t actually stand there and think “woah, I’m doing something amazing right now”.

I know that is one of my personal traits that I need to work on. I’m always about the next thing, I’m always about booking up the future and having something to look forward to so that I’m always excited and happy. I spend very little time appreciating what I have now. I get on plane home from somewhere amazing, life changing, even, and I open the in-flight magazine to see where I should go next, rather than using a few hours to ponder what I’ve just been lucky enough to do. I’m not being ungrateful, I’m just impatient and desperate to do and have everything and I have difficulty motivating myself unless there’s a grand plan in place.

It reminds me of a Daphne Guinness quote, in relation to being offered a meal, she replied “I’ll eat when I’m dead”.

No, darling, you won’t.

I don’t care what your thoughts are on the afterlife, even in heaven, food will never be as pleasurable as it is in life. Whether it’s high-calorie peanut paste in aid packets for a starving child (donate donate donate) or wagyu beef, slathered in truffle oil and caviar, food is one of life’s simplest pleasures (as well as a necessity) and I for one will spend a lot more time being thankful for and appreciative of what I have, when I have it and I shall try to apply that mentality to more than just food.

Which leads me on to some New Year’s resolutions… which are coming soon!