The bathroom philosopher once said “The closer you get to the end of the roll, the faster it spins.”

I always got a kick out of this line, and it seems that every year, this becomes more & more true. Summer is winding down and the neighborhood kids will be returning to school to start another year on their journey to maturity.

I remember a time when I would count down the final days of school as if it were a summer’s version of Christmas. It was such a euphoric feeling to walk out the door on a nice summer day, knowing that I was free to just be a kid for the next 2 1/2 months.

In the space of a summer vacation, entire lifetimes were lived, empires were conquered, and just to mix it up a little, some long and slow dog day afternoons would ensue, seemingly stretching on forever. Sometimes I’d even moan that there was just nothing to do. Ahhh boredom…

Now that I think of it, I’m not sure that I can even remember the last time that I was bored. Eventually, the back to school commercials would begin to appear reminding us that the summer is coming to a close. At first its disappointing, but quickly, a sense of excitement begins to set in with the thoughts of starting a new grade level with different teachers & a change of classmates.

As the first day of school would would arrive, I often reflected back on the summer, the fun that I had, and how incredibly long it had been since I heard the school bell ring followed by the bustling of activity everywhere as we embarked upon another year of learning.

In contrast, a summer now seems more like a long weekend rather than a lifetime. Why is that? Perhaps its because when you’ve only been on the planet for a total of 9 or 10 years, a few months is a much larger portion of your entire existence. A year would be a full tenth of your lifetime! At 40 or 50 years of age, a year is a mere 40th or 50th of your entire life experience. Now your brain perceives a few summer months as just a short stretch into fall.

If you’re still quite young and want to start an online business, you may feel that you have all the time in the world. Trust me on this one, you don’t. Work at it every day as if time is running out, because as hard as it is to believe now… it will before you know it.

If you’re older, you might feel that you don’t have enough time, and even feel regret that you didn’t start sooner. Well don’t. It doesn’t matter that you didn’t start back in 1995. What matters is that you start now. Looking back will only hold you back in your old life.

Do you want to change your life for the better? Do you think the journey to that better life will take much too long to get there? Let’s say that it would take several years for you to realistically meet your ultimate goal. The thought of that in our ‘instant gratification’ society can be a real buzz-kill.

But realize this… you can get an instant change to your entire life just by the simple act of making the decision to do it. Your body is a vessel of which you are the captain. If you don’t like where you are sailing to in life, then make that commitment right now to change course. That very act will change your life.

Everything that you do from here forward will fuel you onward towards your destination. An exciting journey which can even help slow down the effects of the quickening.

Do you know what fuels the quickening? Allowing too much stress in your life will cause it. Another biggie is watching TV. Did you ever lounge around all day watching TV? Remember how fast it went? You look back wondering where the day went. Playing video games, and other useless doodling on the computer also accelerates the quickening. Think back at how quickly the night flew by as you were wasting time in the forums reading the rantings of the whiners who claim to have been “online” for years but haven’t made a dime. And still others who claim to be raking in tons of cash, yet they have the time to sit around and build up ten thousand posts in the space of a year or so.

Did you know that when you stop to smell the roses, the moment slows down as well? Anytime that you live life, or experience life, time moves at a slower pace, closer to the pace that you enjoyed as a kid. This is because you’re getting back into the moment of creative expression. This is your birthright, don’t squander it. The quickening is the price that you pay every time you do.

If you’re not happy with your life now, and it’s moving way too fast, change course, eliminate all those factors which feed the quickening. Stop watching life through TV and other mediums, and start living it. This is the first and most basic requirement to journey down the road to success.

Ending the quickening will mark your awakening. Upon awaking, you’ll wonder how you ever could have allowed yourself to exist so long in a coma. Don’t settle for living on autopilot any longer. Return to your roots and live once again! Make today your new birthday, and celebrate the wonderful new journey which lies just ahead.