Another Year, Another Perspective: Reflections on Time and What Matters

Birthdays have always been complicated for me. If you know me well, you know I've never been comfortable with time's relentless march forward—the way months slip by, years stack up behind us. I've always felt this intense need to capture moments, to freeze them somehow and live in them just a little longer. Of course, that's impossible.

This birthday feels familiar in some ways, yet something's different. That familiar anxiety about time passing? It's not hitting me as hard this year. And I've been wondering why.

A Year of Everything

This past year has been absolutely wild. There have been incredible highs and challenging lows. New jobs, family visits, exciting changes—life has been full. But through it all, I've tried something new: actually prioritizing what matters most. Self-care. Family. Work. Friends. Not just saying these things are important, but really putting them first.

Maybe that's why this birthday feels different.

The Rhythm of Living Intentionally

I've been thinking about how doing more—when it's the right things—changes how we experience time. There's this process I've stumbled into: asking why something matters, prioritizing it, actually doing it, and then learning and adjusting. It's simple, but it creates something powerful: satisfaction. Maybe even happiness.

When you're living more intentionally, does time feel less like something slipping through your fingers?

Letting Time Flow

So this birthday, I'm trying something new. I'm not going to try to catch this moment, to hold onto it desperately. Because no one can catch time—it flows whether we're ready or not.

Instead, I'm just going to see it through. Be present. Appreciate it.

The Year's Highlights

Looking back, this year brought some truly amazing things:

• The habit of writing—I've always wanted to write, but never did. Until now. There's something liberating about finally doing the thing you've always said you wanted to do.

• Togetherness—We visited family and friends. They visited us here in Seattle. What can be better than simply being together with the people you love?

• Meaningful work—Finding a workplace that actually cares about its people and compensates fairly? That's not something to take for granted.

Of course, there were challenges too—illness, setbacks, the inevitable downs that come with any year fully lived. But somehow, even those feel like part of the story rather than threats to happiness.

Maybe wisdom isn't about stopping time. Maybe it's about filling it with things that matter so much that you stop worrying about it passing at all.

Here's to another year. Another chance to prioritize what matters. Another opportunity to flow with time rather than fight against it.