08/19/2026
When our children are young we track their age in weeks and months. They get a little bit older and we shift away from that and start saying how old they are in years. We do the same with ourselves, although I am prone to forgetting my exact age. I have passed 40 but am not yet 50. Lately if someone asks me how old I am I throw a number out and let Joe correct me if I am wrong.
And then there is this beautiful place where, if only briefly, you stop thinking about the passing of time as years and numbers and start to think of it as things you used to do, but do differently now. Or things you used to do, but don't do at all anymore.
There might be a progression and story behind it. A back injury or a 44 year old body that now gets motion sick when turned upside down.
I used to ride every ride at Six Flags, but now I am the proud keeper of phones and bags while I happily read my book on the wooden bench outside the Viper.
There is growth in someone that felt like rest was something for the tired. Something that needed to be earned.
I used to hate Savasana at the end of a yoga class but now I am mildly assaulted and annoyed every single time I hear those words 'start to come back into this room'. It's never long enough. (Yes, every time)
Other times those blanks get filled in and there is a tinge of sadness to them.
I used to send my older sister a happy birthday text every year, but now I don't talk to her at all.
There is gratitude that time is still being carved out to do something you love.
I used to sing on stages and at church but now I sing for the bedtime of a 12 and 13 year old, for people trying to find a little more calm, for karaoke nights, for myself in my basement.
There is a shift away from the panic of time passing into awe that it passed and brought us to right here. In this moment.
How would you fill in 'I used to..... But now I.....'?