The Tortoise and the Hare

There are times when I start to feel like the better times are over. Like all those great memories from the past are the last great memories that I’ll make. It seems as if each passing year gets less interesting to the point that I’m less excited about tomorrow.

That’s kind of a depressing start to this but it’s more of an awakening than a cry for help. And many of you have probably connected this feeling to why I’m leaving the country again, to seek out that excitement and color. Trouble is you can’t expect a change in the view out your window to change the view in your mind. No matter how many ways I spin it in my head, the honest truth is that I’m running away from my life. Jesus… I sound like someone who should be on suicide watch… No, no I’m fine. Please keep reading.

The catalyst to me posting this was some memories that were brought up tonight while I was at dinner with some old friends. We were part of a new hire group that joined Boeing 6 years ago, all of us fresh out of college with more money than we knew what to do with. We were all in our early 20s, single and looking to extend the college life just a few more years. It felt like every weekend was a party with the weekends bleeding into the week days. It was a time when hangovers didn’t exist and even after a 3AM bed time we could still be ready for an 8AM work out. Nothing could stop us, except time.

Time is like the tortoise, you know, like the tortoise and the hare. No matter how fast-paced a life we lead, time slowly grinds away and before you realize it, it’s caught up. And that’s sort of where I find myself right now, in second place. I’m creeping closer and closer to 30, the vast majority of my friends are married or in serious relationships and at some point people went from trying to extend college life to preparing their kids for college. The weekends are now two days to get chores done and when we do go out the recovery consumes the remainder of the days.

As we approach NYE2010, I can remember the past New Years celebrations and how they’ve evolved from year to year. How baby seats appeared in the cars and parents disappeared from the attendance list. For those parents who are still willing to come out, they’re now accompanied by the little ones. I can’t say that I mind though, kids are a lot of fun. I met a former girlfriend at a NYE party, can’t remember what year but I can tell you the person who hosted the party is now married.

So it seems now I’m chasing after that little green reptile as it slowing trudges along in the distance. I finally woke up from my little nap to realize that I’ve been left in the dust by something that, by some unknown force, is required to tick away at a constant pace. The problem now, you see, is that no matter how fast I move, no matter how much distance I make up, there is nothing that will keep that tortoise from winning. Our little analogy ends at the awakening, because in reality, the tortoise always wins.