Passing The Time

Big Willie Anderson has been keeping a diary of sorts for the Enquirer at Bengals training camp. I liked the one, quoted from below, where he thinks back to when he entered the league.

I was looking at the roster the other day and noticed all of the young guys, born in 1981, '82, '83, '84, '85 ... damn. We have a lot of '80s babies.

It's weird to look at the roster and see all of the young guys. It's interesting to look at when I grew up, in the hip-hop generation. I still remember my first road trip as a rookie in the regular season, and I went in a suit. I was a 1996 draft pick. Joe Walter and those guys were 1980s linemen. They wore boots, jeans, flannel shirts tucked in. I remember getting laughed at so hard. I said, "Those guys are old. They don't know what's going on."

I am thinking a lot about the passing of time. I've got a backpack filled with vitamins and minerals I put in my water. Your second or third years (in the NFL), you learn it's survival. I remember telling Levi Jones when he was a rookie, "Hey, man, tape your fingers. Take care of your hands." He said, "Man, I'm young. I don't do that." By the end of the year he had a cast on every finger.

I think a lot about the passing of time too these days. Not in a negative way, though. I guess it's because I've now been working longer than I ever spent in school. I spent a few years in college, a few years in graduate school. And now I've been working longer than any of those periods of my life.

Time passes by so fast now. It's August now, and I think back to January and I can't even remember what occurred in the months in-between. Where did all those months go?

I hate that feeling. Like months have gone by and I didn't even notice. There are things I do to combat that feeling - keeping this blog is one of them.

Another thing is - what I've found is that it's only when I do the same things every day that time goes by fast. When every day is different, and holds new challenges, it actually seems like time goes slower. At my previous job, I worked on the same project for two years. I didn't dislike the project, but it was just so repetitive I barely remember what I did those two years.

But in the year I changed jobs, bought a house, and got engaged all at once was the longest year of my life. I felt like I lived two years worth of life instead of one. Every day and night was packed for months. It stretched me and pulled me in all sorts of directions.

It's not a great thing though. It's stressful and anxious, and I can't even say I would do things the same way if I could do them over again.

The last few months have been pretty calm, thus they've passed with barely a glance. But things are picking up. It feels like I've had plans every evening for the past two weeks (some of those plans involve happy hour, but nonetheless.) This week, I have errands every morning, and meetings and work every evening. I guess time is about to slow down again.