Poem · 14 November 2026 · 3 min read
TIME IS FLYING, BUT I’M NOT IN A HURRY.
TIME IS FLYING, BUT I’M NOT IN A HURRY
Funny how January feels like it was only yesterday.
One minute, we’re making plans,
writing down things we hope to change,
promising ourselves that this will be the year.
And before we can catch our breath,
we’re counting down the weeks to December again.
Time really does have a way of moving
without asking whether we’ve caught up.
So much has happened.
Some things I prayed for found their way to me.
Some things I was certain would happen never did.
There were plans that fell apart,
doors that remained closed,
and moments when I had to gather myself
and find a reason to keep looking forward.
I had places I thought I’d be by now,
conversations I imagined having in person,
and a few beautiful possibilities
that didn’t quite make it past the planning stage.
And yes, some of it hurt.
I’m learning that disappointment
doesn’t have to become a permanent address.
That a change of plans isn’t always the end of the story.
Sometimes life simply takes a different route,
one we wouldn’t have chosen,
but one we eventually learn to navigate.
I think about the people I love,
the distance between some of us,
the things that have changed,
and the little victories that deserve
more appreciation than I sometimes give them.
Life has been happening in between the big moments, too.
In ordinary conversations.
In unexpected laughter.
In quiet evenings.
In the strength it takes to try again
after something doesn’t go as hoped.
And somewhere between all these moments,
the year has nearly slipped through our fingers.
But here’s what I’m beginning to understand:
I don’t want to spend my life
being so preoccupied with what’s next
that I forget to experience what’s here.
I don’t want to turn every birthday
into a reminder of what I haven’t achieved,
or every December into an interrogation
of everything I thought I’d have figured out by now.
There is still so much I want.
So much I hope to experience.
Places I want to see,
people I want to hold a little closer,
dreams I haven’t given up on,
and versions of myself I haven’t met yet.
I’m not pretending I have everything figured out.
I don’t.
Some questions are still unanswered.
Some prayers are still in waiting.
Some chapters are yet to be written.
But I’m not going to rush through my days
just because the calendar keeps turning.
Let things take their time.
Let the right things find their way.
Let me grow without constantly checking
whether I’m growing fast enough.
If this year taught me anything,
it’s that life can change in a blink.
And perhaps that’s all the more reason
to be present for it.
So, when December finally arrives,
I’ll raise my glass.
To the plans that worked out,
and even those that didn’t.
To the lessons I never asked for
but somehow needed.
To the people who stayed,
the memories we made,
and the hope that kept finding me
even on days I wasn’t looking for it.
Here’s to another year.
Not a promise that everything will be perfect,
not a race to become someone new,
but another opportunity to live,
to love, to learn, to try,
and to welcome whatever beautiful things
life still has in store.
Because time is flying.
But I’m not in a hurry.
I’m still here.
I’m still becoming.
And I still have so much life to live.
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— Ruhi Rules