New Year; anyone have OCD about time flying by?

What you’re describing fits very well with how OCD works. While the theme here happens to involve time and meaning, it’s important to know that all OCD cycles function the same way, regardless of the topic. The content changes, but the pattern does not. OCD begins with a trigger—a thought, feeling, or realization that creates discomfort. The brain then interprets that discomfort as something important or threatening that needs to be resolved. This leads to anxiety or pressure, which feels urgent and uncomfortable. In response, the mind engages in mental behaviors meant to fix or reduce the discomfort—reviewing, analyzing, replaying, organizing, or trying to feel the “right” emotion. These responses may bring brief relief, but they don’t solve the problem. Instead, they train the brain to send the same distressing signal again. This is the OCD mind trap. The key skill is not figuring out the theme—it’s learning how to respond differently to discomfort. That means: • Recognizing the uncomfortable feeling • Acknowledging that responding to it is not necessary and does not actually help • Noticing that the urge to analyze or review is part of the trap, not the solution When you choose not to respond, you are not ignoring the problem—you are teaching your brain that the discomfort is not dangerous. Over time, the brain learns it doesn’t need to keep looping. The goal is to allow discomfort without engaging and let the nervous system settle on its own. This is how the brain relearns safety and how OCD loosens its grip. The theme doesn’t need to be solved. The cycle does. ***These skills applies to all types of OCD. Once you learn the skills you are on the path of freeing yourself from the trap by OCD thinking or behaviors.

I’ve been dealing with existential OCD for about a year and a half. It’s seeing how much my kids have changed in a short amount of time and it freaked me out like I missed so much. I also turned 40 so there’s that lol.