Time Flies...

I know I've mentioned this on the show before, but the whole issue of time amazes me. How it passes, how it changes and how it humbles.

I mean, you can be on top of the world one minute, then nothing the next.

What's got me waxing poetic is a chance meeting I had with a Texas bigwig while I was away last week.

There was a time when this guy was the "it" guy: often quoted, often praised, often page one headlines. But that was then. This is now. And now, he's retired -- actually forcibly retired -- from jetsetter to jilted in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

I bumped into him the very same day that I heard the folks at Dow Jones were kicking some venerable names out of their excusive industrials club: AT&T, International Paper and Eastman Kodak are out. Pfizer, AIG and Verizon are in. They make their Dow 30 debut this week. The others march off the stage to just make room.

I can remember the days when AT&T was the greatest company on Earth -- the stock so highly regarded it was considered the safe haven for widows and orphans. Now, it's the one orphaned from the financial world. Or at least, the cool Dow Jones Industrials world.

It happens: It's called time.

The same cruel commodity that takes an Eastman Kodak from being a photography giant to a digital dunce, like that.

The "it" guys who are no longer "it."

They are no longer in the club. No longer getting the invites. No longer getting the attention. From standouts, to “don't let the screen door hit you on the way out.”

It’s kind of hard to figure out. And it's a timely reminder, as if any of us need it, that we should relish the good times when we have them.

And never assume, not for a minute, that there is any guarantee we shall always have them.

It's why I think good press is nice... but a good perspective is nicer still.

Watch Neil Cavuto's Common Sense weekdays at 4 p.m. ET on Your World with Cavuto.