I find that time can go by so fast it’s hard to keep up. If you don’t intentionally stop to observe a milestone or a victory you’ll likely miss the moment entirely or forget it ever happened. If you don’t stop and acknowledge the life you’re leading there are different things that will jolt you into this realization. One thing I’ve found is a demographic survey of any sort where you have to mark your age. As birthdays are collected which box you tick may change, and force you into the realization that you’ve gotten older. As the father of an acquaintance recently pointed out, wait until you tick the last box, that will remind you what matters!
The last time you ticked a box for your age what mattered to you? What matters to you now?