The year ticked to an end over the weekend and once again, I’m wondering, where did the time go? Wasn’t it just yesterday we rang in 2011 and now, it is 2012?

I remember my daddy telling me that the older he got the faster the days flew by. I was younger and what he said didn’t make much sense to me then. Now I understand it completely.

What I don’t get is why. Why does life seem to speed up when I’m just beginning to truly treasure the gift of being alive? And, can I put the brakes on and maybe slow it down a bit?

That is what I thought about this morning as I looked out at the cold January day. When we talked about this, my husband said everything looks different to him in a new year. Or maybe our perception shifts with the end of the old and start of the new. Hopefully it offers us a chance to see things with more positive eyes because the days ahead hold so much possibility if we decide they hold possibility. At least that is how we decided we want to look at things at the start of 2012.

As I watched a breeze ruffle the few leaves hanging on the big oak tree, it occurred to me that maybe it isn’t why time flies that matters the most but how I’m spending that precious time. And perhaps that is also the answer to slowing down the experience of living.

OK, what can I do differently in this New Year? Well my first thought was to simply stop thinking so much about doing and enjoy each moment of being. Really take time to experience life instead of staying so busy in my head thinking about what’s been or what is coming. Surely that will be a better way to pass through a day.

Next I decided I’d do my best to focus on all the things in my life that I appreciate. I have a feeling that living in a state of gratitude is an excellent way to make the most of the minutes, hours and days of the coming year.

So, being aware of each moment and appreciating the blessings in my life seem like two things I can do in 2012. Then I heard a whisper in my head.

“Be kind,” it said.

“Be kind,” I thought, such a simple but profound thing to do. Always I can choose kindness. First, kindness in the way I think about, talk to and treat myself. Then kindness in how I think about, talk to and treat other people. And I can make that choice no matter how someone chooses to treat me.

I’m thinking kindness has a way of multiplying — the kinder I am, the kinder life seems. Now that might not slow time down, but it sure might improve how I feel about how I’m spending it.

Enjoy each moment.

Live in a state of gratitude.

Be kind.

And, expect and look for positive possibilities.

Seems I’ve stumbled into my intentions (I like intentions better than resolutions) for how I’d like to live my days in 2012. Now I don’t know if the minutes of the year will seem to tick by any slower but maybe I’ll experience them with a more contented and peaceful heart.

I think my daddy would say that’s a great way to live every year.