In the lives of my grandparents, precise knowledge of the year or day of their birth was not guaranteed.

Unlike those who lived at a slower pace, we have become preoccupied with time, perhaps beginning with the railroad trains in 1854. They were able to provide “on time arrival.”

We are at the mercy of time; we lose time, we search for time, and are sometimes early or late.

Magnificent works of art, music, books, and theater are called timeless. Why? Because they defeat the passage of the years by remaining seen, read, and performed long past their creation, just as they were.

Those towering man-made creations tell us that we can produce the timeless, but we — the creators —are not timeless.

For the young, the passing seasons matter only when it comes to Christmas presents, birthdays, and the dates that order the school calendar, signaling the beginning and end of summer vacation.

Somewhat later, the mirror watches us in recognition of our aging. Do we look back? That depends on how brave we are.

One thing we neither read about nor hear much is that we live in different stages, to the point of being one person or personality at one age and a different person at another. Our bodies, knowledge, experience, brains, and chemistry are constantly transforming.

It follows that we will not live in the same way at 45 as we do at 25. Nor can the 45-year-old live as he will at 65, or even predict what his nature will be at that time.

In a sense, this turns the question of mortality on its head. The person we were earlier is not the person we are later. If we live with an eye on the person we are now, we will not plan for the person we will be. Indeed, we have no certainty about who we will become anyway.

The unfathomable alterations in the seasons of our lives underline the significance of living well as a 20-year-old, when you are 20. Fall in love, use your body to its fullest potential, and excel in age-sensitive skills like math if you have the talent.

Remember, you live on a moving walkway.

Enjoy your favorite foods until you develop a taste for something different. Baseball players tend to peak around the age of 27, so play, sprint, or swim as much as you can. Don’t make bucket list plans. The old man you will be at retirement won’t be you.

Understand this. I had no recognition of any of this until I experienced it firsthand. I am still living it and watching friends in the same process of transformation. Younger people, too.

I doubt that most of you will internalize any of this. Unless, that is, you are in the grasp of the sculptor we call time.

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The painting above is “Clock ” by Philip Guston, sourced from Wikiart.org.