Just Give It Time
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
For those of you keeping up, it has been a couple weeks now since my dog was attacked by out-of-control-dog-of-the-streets. Today marks a special day in that it is the first time I saw her since the occurrence. Although our reunion was no less active than those of the past nine years (some licking, tons of wagging, a couple barks...all performed by her of course), there was something different about her. Something about the way she acts and responds is just not quite the same...yet?
Since her attack, I have been engaged in a paradoxical battle with time. On the one hand, I wanted to speed it up so that I could come home and see her. But on the other, I wanted to inflate it so that she would be fully recovered by the time I actually did see her.
Despite what I want or don't want, I found myself face-to-face with the constancy of ubiquitous time: friend or foe?
We've all tracked time -- 5 seconds to New Years, 10 days til the SAT, 1 month til my birthday, 12 minutes til pencils down. Sometimes a unit of time seemed like an eternity, and other times, it felt like it didn't even happen. Of course, it was when we wanted it to fly by that it trudged, and when we wanted it to expand that it shrunk.
At times of unequivocal bliss, like the week leading up to a birthday (younger the better?!), Time is the ultimate prankster. We simply cannot wait til B-Day, and here is Time, making it the longest seven days we have ever experienced. Ever.
But sometimes Time rides the fast track. When we've just needed a little more time to explain ourselves, to cherish the experience, to fully drink to the lees, Time, the relentless taskmaster, stole away into the night.
And then, those uncategorizable events in our life which leave us heavy-hearted, lumpy-throated, and teary-eyed. The ones that are like wildfires and just have to be waited out. No matter how many calendar boxes we cross off, we are completely at Time's mercy. It taunts us with once-important days and dates and restarts after nostalgic memories. We're told that Time will take care of it, but that is not enough. When? How? Where? Time must not have taken my 5th grade essay-writing seminar.
We can be consoled by the fact that times of indefinite contentment work to offset times of indefinite healing. They are the "good times" that just keep rolling without a visible or tangible end. The moments which seem like they may last forever...and sometimes they do.
When I was greeted by my dog today, I saw that she was neither fully injured or fully recovered. At this time I am thankful for how far she has come but am anxious that it will "take time" for her wounds, visible or not, to be patched up.
It is uplifting to know that no matter whether we want it to sprint or plod, Time will continue marching with its steady and encouraging beat. It's our sure-fire way of knowing that time really does heal all wounds.
For those of you keeping up, it has been a couple weeks now since my dog was attacked by out-of-control-dog-of-the-streets. Today marks a special day in that it is the first time I saw her since the occurrence. Although our reunion was no less active than those of the past nine years (some licking, tons of wagging, a couple barks...all performed by her of course), there was something different about her. Something about the way she acts and responds is just not quite the same...yet?
Since her attack, I have been engaged in a paradoxical battle with time. On the one hand, I wanted to speed it up so that I could come home and see her. But on the other, I wanted to inflate it so that she would be fully recovered by the time I actually did see her.
Despite what I want or don't want, I found myself face-to-face with the constancy of ubiquitous time: friend or foe?
We've all tracked time -- 5 seconds to New Years, 10 days til the SAT, 1 month til my birthday, 12 minutes til pencils down. Sometimes a unit of time seemed like an eternity, and other times, it felt like it didn't even happen. Of course, it was when we wanted it to fly by that it trudged, and when we wanted it to expand that it shrunk.
At times of unequivocal bliss, like the week leading up to a birthday (younger the better?!), Time is the ultimate prankster. We simply cannot wait til B-Day, and here is Time, making it the longest seven days we have ever experienced. Ever.
But sometimes Time rides the fast track. When we've just needed a little more time to explain ourselves, to cherish the experience, to fully drink to the lees, Time, the relentless taskmaster, stole away into the night.
And then, those uncategorizable events in our life which leave us heavy-hearted, lumpy-throated, and teary-eyed. The ones that are like wildfires and just have to be waited out. No matter how many calendar boxes we cross off, we are completely at Time's mercy. It taunts us with once-important days and dates and restarts after nostalgic memories. We're told that Time will take care of it, but that is not enough. When? How? Where? Time must not have taken my 5th grade essay-writing seminar.
We can be consoled by the fact that times of indefinite contentment work to offset times of indefinite healing. They are the "good times" that just keep rolling without a visible or tangible end. The moments which seem like they may last forever...and sometimes they do.
When I was greeted by my dog today, I saw that she was neither fully injured or fully recovered. At this time I am thankful for how far she has come but am anxious that it will "take time" for her wounds, visible or not, to be patched up.
It is uplifting to know that no matter whether we want it to sprint or plod, Time will continue marching with its steady and encouraging beat. It's our sure-fire way of knowing that time really does heal all wounds.
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