Where does time go? The last time I really felt my age, I was 35 years old. I just turned 66. I don’t feel 66 in so many ways, but in others I certainly do when I look back across time and where I’ve journeyed.

I know that southern etiquette says it is impolite to ask a woman her age, and also recommends that a woman never tell her age. I’ve never understood that. I am what I am. Age is only a number. If I lied and said I was 56, would it make me look any younger? Would it make me feel younger? Would it change how long I live?

I’ve had 66 birthdays, 66 Christmases, 66 New Years. I’ve been alive over 2 billion seconds. I’ve lived almost 35 million minutes. 578,600 sands of time have passed through the hour glass in these years. I’ve spent just over 24,000 days on this planet. I’ve enjoyed 3,444 weeks. I’ve had 792 months to get projects accomplished.

Harry Truman was president the year I was born, followed by, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Regan, George G.H. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barak Obama and Donald Trump. I’ve survived a dozen presidencies.

The first color TV pictures were broadcast from the Empire State Building in the year I was born. I Love Lucy premiered on CBS. Disney’s animated version of Alice in Wonderland debuted in theaters.

The first commercial computer, UNIVAC, as installed for use with the U.S. Census. The United States performed the first nuclear bomb tests in Nevada that year. The first direct call from coast to coast was made in November from New Jersey to California. The world’s first nuclear power plant to produce electricity opened in the U.S.

The cost of a nice new house was about $9,000, and an older average house sold for a price between $3,000-4,000. A new car could be had for $1,500. Gasoline was $.19 per gallon. The average wage per year was $3,500.

Inventions since I was born include the TV remote, microwave ovens, the jet airplane, cordless tools, industrial robots, LED lights, and unmanned areal vehicles. Video games were invented, as well as the polio vaccine. Digital music, cell phones and Sony walkmans came along, also. The replacement of film cameras with digital, and the replacement of 33 rpm or 45 rpm music by digital changed many people’s lives along with the I-cloud and cyber storage.

The list goes on and on. Man’s imagination to dream of solutions and then create them has been phenomenal.

According to industrytap.com: Nanotechnology knowledge is doubling every two years and clinical knowledge every 18 months. But on average human knowledge is doubling every 13 months. According to IBM, the build out of the “internet of things” will lead to the doubling of knowledge every 12 hours.

When I think of the privilege of growing older, some things frighten me, and some excite me. It is a wonderful time to be alive on the face of this earth. Important things are happening all around us every single day.

I don’t mind growing older. I just want to do it well. I don’t want to squander what time I have left on this earth. Wouldn’t the numbers of age be far more relevant if we know how much time we have left instead of how much we’ve spent?

I love the story of Esther and her rise to become queen. The book of Esther in the Bible tells her incredible story of being an orphan and being chosen to become the wife of the king. Her uncle reminds her that perhaps she has risen to such high rank for “such a time as this.”

I believe that God has a plan for each of us. From the moment of our conception to the day of our death, I believe we are put on this earth in a designated time frame with a God-given destiny. I pray that God will bless the years I have left in this world and help me accomplish important things in my given time. Truly, I believe I , and everyone alive on the planet right now, were born for such a time as this.

Reach Judith Victoria Hensley at judith99@bellsouth.net or on Facebook. Check out her blog: One Step Beyond the Door.