Time

Time is a deliberation that each of us must make with his or her own heart and soul. This is a paraphrase from the late Julie Yip-Williams’ memoir The Unwinding of a Miracle. Although Julie was a terminal, Stage IV, metastatic cancer victim at about 40, at 68, five years ago, I was much closer to my own demise than I was at 40.

It gave me pause to focus more keenly on the value of my time. In my professional efforts an enormous amount of detail work was necessary. “The devil was In the details,” as they say. Those details required large increments of the only life I have been given.

I became more concerned with the time I likely had left in the fortunate position where I could retire. I wanted to spend time with family, friends and great books. I wanted to know those close to me better and write some memoirs to connect to people I knew and people I didn’t.

A new journey began. Despite the vicissitudes of old age there has been something golden about this experience. Simply not having a boss is a grand relief. Doing in large part what I love is precious.

That God has granted me this time is a little like youth not being wasted on the young. God willing I am facing my final years with more of the wisdom of old age as opposed to the foolishness of youth. I have slowed down. It is hard to slow down after 68 years of haste but the newly found peace feeds my soul.

I appreciate that at 73 one phone call or one lab result can change the complexion of my life in an instant. I thank God for the opportunity to know Him, to know my spouse and to know my friends more closely. It is the gift of a lifetime.

H. Robert Rubin, Amazon best selling memoirist and author of two books available on Amazon, Look Backward Angel and How Did I Get Through This?