Time Lapse
We had this joke growing up about the parmesan cheese in our family fridge. It was one of those green plastic Kraft containers, and I happened upon it once when looking to top a slice of pizza. The cheese appeared fine, until I looked at the 1980-something expiration date. This was 1995. Evidently, the cheese had passed the smell test for about a decade.
Or maybe it was just overlooked. Whatever the reason, time had marched on and forgot the cheese.
We’ve all experience some devastating time lapse like this, food products notwithstanding. Around this time of year, I get refocused on health and wellness and I remember that I need to use those yoga class credits my wife got me awhile back. I recently logged into the yoga studio website and learned that the 15 classes I still had to my name had expired around the time of my last visit…in the SUMMER OF 2017!
How did almost two years go by without even so much as a simple check in?
Easy. We forget things if we’re not looking right at them. Time moves on as we do, but not always in the same direction. Our desire for health and wellness and any other thing that requires daily maintenance can pass by if our awareness of the passage of time isn’t aligned to those endeavors.
If you’re in a family unit, this is entirely the norm and excusable. As spouses and parents, we have blinders on with our eyes focused on our Number 1 and our little ones. We don’t devote enough time to ourselves, plain and simple. We fall down rabbit holes daily with the needs of our children, or get sidetracked by the worries and concerns of our partners.
Does this make us bad people? No. It makes us normal.
So, if you’ve let something lapse, you’re probably doing fine as a human person. Just check those fridge shelves, at least once in a while.
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Photo by Sanjeevan SatheesKumar on Unsplash
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