Those of you reading this who are old enough will remember that the months leading up to the year 2000 were fraught with anxiety. Experts were exclaiming that the end of the world as we knew it was possibly on the horizon.

Translation: all of the computers in the world were going to explode (or something like that) as soon as the clock hit midnight on January 1.

As the eve of the new millennium approached, we unplugged and turned off our computers, both our laptops and desktops. Smartphones and tablets weren’t even a thing yet. Then, the chilling moment arrived, and – nothing. After all of that hype, my computer still worked when I turned it on that morning.

Now we are on the brink of a new decade. As we enter the 20s, some people I know are reflecting on what they have accomplished in the last while and are re-evaluating their goals. I think it’s good to do that on a regular basis, and not just at major intervals on the lunar cycle.

However, we tend to be really hard on ourselves if we haven’t achieved certain things by a particular year or age. That’s why so-called milestone birthdays seem like such big deals. Why should someone’s 40th birthday be any more significant than their 39th? Any year is ripe for reaching or setting goals – or even just having fun.

After all, time is just a collection of minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years. It’s what you do with that time that matters – not some arbitrary date on a calendar.