Blog-off #11: Time keeps on slipping into the future

The Steve Miller Band released ‘Fly Like an Eagle’ in 1976 – I was four years old. The song obviously had no relevance whatsoever to me then, but it sure does now. I’m playing it at as I write this entry, you can listen too…

Here are some of the lyrics:

Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'

Into the future

Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'

Into the future

I want to fly like an eagle

To the sea

Fly like an eagle

Let my spirit carry me

I want to fly like an eagle

Till I'm free

Oh, Lord, through the revolution

Feed the babies

Who don't have enough to eat

Shoe the children

With no shoes on their feet

House the people

Livin' in the street
Oh, oh, there's a solution

Time does slip into the future and it seems to speed up the older I get. I had always heard that from the adults around me as a kid and thought “oh whatever – I can’t wait until I’m 13, 16, 18…”. Back then we were all 12 and a half or almost 13, now we’ve just turned whatever age we are even if our last birthday occurred months ago. It’s kind of funny how that works, but I am learning to cherish and be more thoughtful about time just a little more every year.

A couple of weeks ago I attended my 20th high school reunion. Oh what the heck I aged myself at the onset of this post so here’s to putting it all out there! When I initially heard about the reunion it bothered me more than any birthday to date. I mean you don’t walk around thinking every day that it’s been 10, 15 and now 20 whole years since graduating high school! It was like a reality smackdown! Fortunately, it didn’t take long to readjust, shake my head and decide that I needed to face my fear of time slipping away from me - am I ever glad I did. It was like stepping back into time. Everyone was fundamentally the same. We’ve all aged a bit, have conquered some milestones and are a bit wiser (in my case I’d like to think I am if nothing else!), but dang we look good! We even discussed how maybe we should have made it a 40 year reunion so that we would have been bigger surprises to one another.

I suppose the reflection on time is more about what’s happened in that 20 year span than it is about where I am today. I’ve spent some time thinking about my accomplishments, my failures, my joys and disappointments. To me that is what the song ‘Fly Like an Eagle’ is all about – making hay or your mark on the world (whatever that means to you) while the sun shines. That means now because it doesn’t last forever.

That’s my interpretation of the lyrics whether Steve Miller was thinking the same thing or not – what’s yours?

Don’t forget to check out Songbird’s post I think you’ll like it!