A Reflection on Time and Gratitude
It's Time to Think About Time Differently
Every Monday morning, I color in a small box.
It’s part of a life calendar I’ve kept for years—52 boxes across, 80 rows down. One box for each week of an 80-year life.
Every week, the box reminds me:
I’m still here.
Still living.
Still shaping time.
This week, the box felt heavier than usual.
There’d been a wedding anniversary.
News of someone’s passing.
A few deep conversations with family.
Moments of joy with my children.
And the thought wouldn’t leave me:
We don’t just live in minutes and hours. We live in moments and threads. In beads and eras. In chunks of meaning.
π Moments
Some moments shift everything.
A look.
A laugh.
A text.
A decision.
A pause that changed your path.
You never know when it’s happening—but looking back, you always see it.
π Beads
Moments strung together.
A ritual.
A weekend away.
A tough season followed by healing.
A recurring dinner that, in hindsight, became sacred.
We don’t plan these.
But they leave an imprint.
β° Strings
Sometimes there’s a theme running through your life.
Maybe it’s a stretch of time defined by:
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A project that consumed you
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A loss you were processing
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A goal you were chasing
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A version of yourself you were becoming
You may not see the thread until you look back.
But it’s been stitching something real.
π Chapters
Chapters usually mark a shift in role, geography, or mindset.
Your:
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Pre-kid era
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First leadership role
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Years spent in a new city
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Season of starting over
Chapters end. New ones begin.
But you carry lessons from each.
π Eras
And then… there are the big ones.
The before.
The after.
The stretch that changed your view of life.
Eras rarely have clean borders.
But they echo across everything that comes next.
π A Simple Invitation
Here’s what I hope you take from all this:
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Look back—with curiosity, not judgment.
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Reframe a chapter that still weighs on you.
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Let gratitude reshape how you see your timeline.
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And if someone comes to mind while reading this… reach out.
Say thank you.
Say I’m thinking of you.
Say I’m glad we shared that moment, string, or chapter together.
You don’t have to say everything.
Just something.
π Related Links
π Free Book – Hypnotic Gifts: How to Change Someone’s Life in a Single Conversation
→ https://www.HypnoticGiftsBook.com
π Influence Book Club – Read. Reflect. Influence.
→ https://www.InfluenceBookClub.com
May your next box be colored with intention.
And may the people who shaped your story… hear from you.
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