Men, how many of you let your anniversary or your wife's birthday slip up on you?  It's very likely that you had to rush out and buy a gift (with a lot of "thought" put in to the purchase, for sure!), a card, and then quickly think of where to take your lovely bride for dinner.

And that's if you're lucky enough for the reminder to hit you before you come home!  If you're not that lucky, you know the horrible feeling that you've experienced by hurting the feelings of your Queen.

Troglodytes (aka, "men") just seem to be wired this way but it's still no excuse to forget.  That's why God invented calendars, PDA's and smart phones.

Another part of getting older, and the perceived increasing speed of time, is the realization that I have to become more time management conscious.  This is especially the case when it comes to remembering special and important events like birthdays, anniversaries, and such. 

However, I found that time management techniques should also be applied to the practice of extending the warm hand of friendship. 

You're thinking, "Say, what???"

Let me put it to you this way.  Let's say that you're chatting with a friend or an acquaintance.  They mention that they have a doctor's appointment next Tuesday that they're a little concerned about.  What would you normally do?  If you are like how I used to be, I would intend to ask them about it after the appointment and say a little prayer for them.

What would usually happen?  I would typically forget all about it until reminded of it in some indirect way . . . and, usually, long after said appointment.

Being a Troglodyte, and being incapable of rewiring my pea-sized brain to remember stuff, I started using my calendar to jar my jug head.  I try to put reminders on my PDA/Phone to remind me to send them a quick e-mail to let them know that I would be thinking of, and praying for, them during their appointment.  I also try to have reminders for the appointment itself as well as for after the appointment to either call or write them to see how it went.

People like to be thought of and remembered.  They also like to have the loved ones who have passed away remembered.  Do you know someone who has experienced the loss of a loved one through illness, accident or war?  Mark the date of their death, or even their birthday, on your calendar and make a point of contacting the surviving spouse, parent or sibling and brighten their day somehow.  I would venture a guess that the mere act of calling them and listening, even to their tears, will brighten their day.

So, think of one person that you can humbly attempt to brighten their day by remembering them or their loved ones.  After you have them firmly and regularly embedded in your calendar and have actually done a deed or two of remembrance, then think of another person, and then another one.  You'll be amazed at how you will feel that you're the blessed one instead of the one giving the blessing.

There are lots of things like this that we can do to make a difference in someone's life.  I have found that, by doing so, my days become brighter and more fulfilling.  Though I have by no means mastered this suggestion, I have found that, by populating my calendar with these kinds of reminders, Old Man Time seems to slow down just a little bit.  Don't get me wrong.  He's still he's still flying by but it doesn't seem that he's running quite as fast as he did before.

One of my favorite quotes about the subject of time is by the late Dr. Seuss.  In fact, if there is such a thing as a tombstone when I die, I would like to have this quote engraved on it.  I believe that it puts the subject of time, our finite allocation of it, and it's fleeting qualities, all into perspective.  It reads:

How did it get so late so soon?
It's night before it's afternoon.
December is here before it's June.
My goodness how the time has flewn.
How did it get so late so soon?

Let's put time to work for us by remember the important dates of our relationships and events in our lives.  While it won't give us more time, it will certainly enrich the quality of what we've been granted.

Now, if you'll pardon me, my calendar has just reminded me to remind a friend that he's about to forget his anniversary . . . again!  I'll have to tell him, too, of what the great philosopher, Flip Wilson, said:  It's later than it's ever been.