Life or The Big Blur.

I turned 45 on Saturday. Hi, I’m Jen Sincero, and I’m 45. Last year I was 44 and this year I’m 45. Next year, I’ll be 46 because right now I am 45.

Nope, still not sinking in.

HOW THE HELL DID I GET TO 45 ALREADY!

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s an awesome age. You’re still energetic and sexy, but now you have all this incredible experience, confidence and know-how. Plus you’re too old to care a whole lot about what other people think of you when you’re out there in the street, taking the trash out in your robe.

I’m just flabbergasted by how quickly it goes. I mean, my niece has breasts. Breasts! Where did those come from? How did she go from stuffing peas up her nose to breasts in a split second?

The thing about time is that you can’t slow it down, but you kind of can. Here are some tried and true tricks to make the passing of time – ye olde cold bucket of water in the face – a tad less startling.

Ahem:

Every time I go on a trip, I stop myself when I’m first starting out and think okay, let me remember this moment. This adventure has just started and I’m all excited and I want to note this beginning so I can enter into it slowly and consciously. Then I proceed to fly into it all crazy and woo hoo BUT I eventually do snap to and stop myself. And I marvel at things like holy crap, I’m in India, on an overcrowded bus, being sat on by a family of five – this is awesome!

The trick is to do this in your everyday life with everyday occurrences. Holy crap, I’m sitting on my couch in my robe, in southern California, it’s warm out, I’m typing, I’m alive and this moment will never happen again – this is awesome! Be conscious of where you are right now – how it feels, smells, tastes, looks, everything. If you notice your life moment by moment and utilize all your senses, instead of racing by lost in your head, it will last much much longer.

Another great trick is to stop screwing around. Stop wasting time! Stop doing stupid crap that you really don’t care about and use your time wisely! Make a schedule. Give yourself deadlines. This doesn’t mean you have to be productive 24/7, but it does mean that instead of screwing around on Facebook or worrying or getting caught up in minutia you should be out walking on the beach with a friend or learning something fascinating or doing something that adds meaning to your life rather than tossing your time down the drain.

It’s also an excellent idea to bring new stuff into your world everyday. Go to a different supermarket. Take a different route home. Notice something new about your neighborhood. Take a class on something new. Move to a new town. Make a new friend. And my favorite, do something that scares the hell out of you everyday. By constantly shoving the unknown into your face, you get out of your rut, jolted out of your stupor, awakened to the present and hence, you get slowed down.