For Christmas this year, my daughter found me a phone charger with a stand and changed my iPhone to look more like an alarm clock—so I didn’t have to fumble around in the middle of the night just to see what time it was. I absolutely LOVE it.
So… naturally, I thought I should get one for work. It could be the clock on my desk. (Yes, I know I can use my computer, but this way it’s charging—and it feels like an old-fashioned desk clock.)
I haven’t had the phone on that charger for more than 36 minutes… and I HATE it.
The phone is staring at me from my desk. It’s easy to see. It’s charging. All good things. So why do I hate it so much?
The minutes flip too fast. I mean FAST. Every single time the minute changes, my eye catches it. I notice it. How in the world can 60 seconds move that quickly? I actually caught myself telling it to “STOP.”
And then it hit me.
Time is going by this fast all the time—I just don’t usually see it.
This morning, I got up, rode my bike for a 10-minute warm-up, then did a 30-minute workout. I kept checking the clock, thinking, WOW, this is taking way too long—which is funny, because apparently time goes pretty fast when you’re not watching it… and painfully slow when you are.
Why am I working out and trying to move more? Because I’m 58 and starting to think about the next chapter. Not right away—I still have a lot to figure out before I take that step, like what I’ll do with all my time. I really do love what I do, so I am not in a hurry to just sit around the house in retirement.
BUT… this next chapter will be here FAST.
So I need to move. I need to take care of myself. I need to stop and think about what life looks like when I don’t have to go to work. I’ve been doing this for 25 years—it’s kind of a habit that I like.
Now that I have a visual reminder of how fast time is moving, my new and “improved” desk clock feels like a countdown to the next step—whenever that is. More importantly, it’s forcing me to notice how quickly time passes and how important it is to pause and really think about what matters: my family, my community, and how I want to spend the extra minutes I’ll have someday.
I know, I know—people who are retired will say, “I’m busier now than ever,” and I can only hope that’s me. I hope I don’t become the master of the Magical Matching game on my phone. I hope I find purpose in retirement. I hope I stay active. I hope I find my people—church, pickleball, volunteering… something that fills the days in a meaningful way.
This year at SFS, we’ll be talking a lot about Retirement Readiness—not the financial side, but the purpose side of things. (And maybe that’s because this has been quietly working on me already 😊.)
And now, I have a clock on my desk that’s going way too fast, right in my face, reminding me that my minutes matter. They add up. And they’re meant for something.
Now I just need to go find my purpose. Come along with me—they say it’ll be fun. 😊