The Worst Concept Ever Is Time

"The worst concept ever is time".
-One of my younger co-workers

I have a co-worker who is young enough to be one of my children. In spite of our age difference we have become friends because of a common love of music. Though not of my generation, he loves the music of my generation. I share my knowledge of music history with him as well as my music collection. Since I am at least as old as his parents, if not older, he thinks I'm a really cool guy because I have seen most of the musicians that he admires so much. Today I shared with him that Phil Lesh, bass player for the Grateful Dead, turned 70 years old on March 15th. He was blown away and found it difficult to believe. I also shared my view that the "Baby Boomers" are rapidly becoming the senior citizens of our society. His response was "The worst concept ever is time". I thought that was a rather poignant remark from a young person. Most young people, including my own generation when we were "young", think they will live forever and that their time will never run out. Although I am keenly aware of the passage of time, I try to make a conscientious effort to live in the eternal Now. One of my friends who is a monk once told me that "sometimes you have to slow down to see how fast life is really going". He continued by saying, "The only way to slow life down is to be in the moment". It is difficult not to think about time and age. One look in the mirror reveals to me the aging and decline of my body. My granddaughter thinks I am "old" because my hair is gray and my skin is wrinkled. However you judge me, based on the condition of my body, I still believe my mind and heart are youthful. I think there is a lot of truth to the joke that inside every old person is a young person wondering what the hell happened. I told a friend this past Saturday night, while we were attending a rock and roll concert, that "in my youth my body seemed to be in charge and took my mind places it didn't necessarily want to go. Now it is my mind dragging my body around". There's no doubt that my body isn't what it used to be and I don't move as quickly as I used to do. However, I strive for my mind and heart to be timeless. Time is eternal even though our bodies may not be. Even when my body is gone, I hope all that is me remains one way or another. If time is a river, I hope to flow with it forever.