You Gonna Miss This

Two colleagues of mine are retiring this year. They both have been successful members of the financial community for around 30 years, and they even left on a strong note in their career. Had you asked them a few decades ago how they would feel with an accomplishment like that, they would probably have told you that they will be really, really happy and that they would now look forward to their retirement in affluence. Yet, their body language says others. They look tired, worn out and don't seem to look forward to their coming years at all.

Ask a parent when they are sandwiched between the generations,  raising children, taking care of their aging parents while working all at the same time, and they would probably tell you that they kind of look forward to the their children's college graduation. Yet when it actually comes it dawns on them that their golden years have in fact passed. Life is crazy that way.

There is only one secret of happiness, live the moment now, no matter how tiresome and sometimes even scary it seems to be. "You gonna miss this", Trace Adkins concludes in his song and he captures the entire theme of this note in one phrase. Your goals, your desires, your aspirations will never make you happy, the holy Now does.

She was starin' out the window of their SUV
Complainin', sayin', “I can't wait to turn eighteen”
She said, “I'll make my own money and I'll make my own rules
Momma, put the car in park out there in front of the school”
And she kissed her head, and said, “I was just like you”

You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days
Hadn't gone by so fast

These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this

Before she knows it she's a brand new bride
In her one bedroom apartment and her daddy stops by
He tells her it's a nice place, she says, “It'll do for now”
Starts talkin' about babies and buyin' a house
Daddy shakes his head and says, “Baby, just slow down”

Cuz' you're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days
Hadn't gone by so fast

These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this

Five years later there's a plumber
Workin' on the water heater
Dog's barkin', phone's ringin'
One kid's cryin' and one kid's screamin'
And she keeps apologizin'

He says, “They don't bother me
I've got two babies of my own
One's thirty-six, one's twenty-three”
Huh, it's hard to believe

But you're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days
Hadn't gone by so fast

These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this

You're gonna miss this
Yeah, you're gonna miss this

(Trace Adkins, You Gonna Miss This)