I was talking with an older woman yesterday, and she pointed out that it’s important to live now. “Time,” she said, “waits for no one.”

By the time we get to middle age or beyond, time seems to pass in the blink of an eye. There’s no time to put off the joys of life.

What’s tough is that so many people are facing serious financial crises this late in life. It’s clear that many in our generation will have to do some adjusting. Some of us are not going to have the leisurely, upscale retirement we envisioned. We’ll be working longer. We’ll be living less luxuriously. There may be some serious struggle, for the very first time in our adult lives.

We’re going to have to adjust our values, too, to understand what is truly important.

Yes, there will be a lucky few who won’t be touched much. But the vast majority of us will be adjusting. Adapting.

And maybe returning to the values we had in the Sixties. By necessity.

Less material. More grounded in feelings and relationships.

We may not be taking those big, expensive family vacations, but, as my partner said yesterday, we CAN break out those old board games and have quality family time.

Maybe it’s come full circle.

Still, we all have our dreams. We’ll want to find a way to live some of them before we die.

As Maggie said yesterday, “Time waits for no one.”

I can’t help but think of the Chinese curse we used to refer to in my old Silicon Valley days: May you live in interesting times.