I recently reread a magazine that was five years old. It was in a stack of other magazines here in the house. I just happened upon it.

The novelty of finding something exactly five years old (the August 2014 edition) was not wasted. The magazine is five years old and I am five years older than I was when I first read it.

I thought back to what I was doing five years ago. I thought about all the plans that I had hatched five years ago. I thought about what I was doing five years ago. I thought about how my kids were five years ago. I thought about all of the places I wanted to visit as my 37 year old self, and all those same places I haven’t yet visited as a 42 year old.

I also learned something else.

While I have been examining the weeds, and responding to the ephemeral, the years have steadily and relentlessly drifted by. Without exuberance. Without fanfare. Without a sound, the years simply passed.

What I learned was that there is no one who will shake you and say, “Wake up! Get going on what matters.” It’s just silence. So, we have to do the shaking ourselves through occasional reminders. Reminders, like this one, that are attempting to alert you to the subtlety of passing moments.

Awake from your hypnosis! Your life is waiting.