A bit less significant than an earthquake

So I was sitting on the bank of a stream in a park the other day watching the stream trickle by in the afternoon sun. I was trying to make some sense out of my life and all the recent comings and goings of the year past. The only thing I came to realize in that hour or so watching the water silently slipping by that my life was also slipping by as silently as the stream.
So I got up and jumped in -- a few people looked and others shook their heads -- but they were all still on the banks. So I got wet and the water was cold but I walked in the stream -- perhaps this a bit less significant than an earthquake. But I was slowly becoming part of the scenery of my life rather than being a part of it.
I spent the rest of the day doing things rather than thinking about doing them someday.
I guess those days off were better for me than I guessed that they would be. I still didn't go to sleep as early as I should have.