A surprising happened to me the moment I stopped going to the pool every day. I have no idea what day it is. I literally pay no attention to it whatsoever.
Because I no longer have to navigate around swim team schedules, learn-to-swim classes, pool maintenance, traffic issues and holiday closures I only pay attention to what day it is for scheduled appointments, an expected delivery or to choose the least-kids-riding-bikes dog walking routes.
Occasionally if I happen to go the library or store and notice it is more crowded than usual I’ll realize it’s the weekend. Otherwise, it’s irrelevant to me.
I wasn’t expecting this. My entire life, I’ve tracked time and paid attention to its passage.
This was brought to me in stark relief last week. I was at the grocery and noticed that the front of the store displays were now filled with Valentine’s Day treats and gifts. At the time, I had a passing thought,
“Wow. That was fast. They just took down the Christmas displays and immediately put up the next holiday even though it is months away. I think that’s a little ridiculous, but I suppose all retailers now do this to encourage early holiday shopping.”
Whatever. It’s barely worth mentioning except that same day I was listening to a podcast where the host said, “Next week in Valentine’s Day” and I had to do a double take. What? Next week?
I’ve been so self-absorbed with me – my injury rehab, my new workouts, my computer upgrade – that the past 2 months have flown by.
Not only didn’t I know what day it was, I barely registered we’re almost halfway through February.
Which actually is a wonderful thing for me. All of the aggravation with swimming scheduling has melted away along with the snow and ice from our recent, usually once a year, severe snow/ice storm.
It’ll be 60 tomorrow. Next month I’m sure there will be days when I turn off the heat.
Spring is almost here. That date I won’t be forgetting.