Well, in true blogger style I have failed to post for far too long. Partially it is because life moves pretty fast, and the other part is because we are less likely to stop and share our feelings out in the ethos when life is good. Right now, life is good. It is not that there has not been heartbreak, for life always has its ups and downs; but over all.... life is good!
Recently I went through the extremes of grieving over the end of life and celebrating the joy of new life. Both gave me the opportunity to reflect on what it means to live and how priorities are selected. My great uncle Paul passed away just a few days shy of his 101st birthday. Sitting there reading over the summary of that century of life; for that is all that you can do is provide a brief summary; even those few details spoke volumes about the type of guy he was. He was married to my aunt Jane for 50 years, remarried several years after her death and was in that marriage for over 10 years. He then spent the last eight or so years dating a wonderful lady named Edna. He was caring and kind. He was a veteran, a post master, retired in 1976, spent his time with family, friends and the partners who filled his many years with love. We should all be so lucky. Then just a few weeks later I welcomed a new nephew into the world and my heart swelled with love and happiness. As I sat filling in his baby book with all the random "the world right now" details, I found myself wondering what the world will look like if he were to surpass his 100th birthday in 2114?
Change is the only constant in life. If life went on from day to day staying exactly the same with absolutely no fluctuations of any kind, it would be boring. Though change can be scary, change is what keeps us going as well. Often the best changes come when we are least expecting them. It was one year ago that I was starting to pack up my classroom, planning for what I thought would be the next step in my life; yet here one year later I could not have predicted in any way what has transpired since that decision to leave the classroom. I miss teaching, I do; but I don't miss the stress, the frustration, the over whelming amount of time I felt I had to dedicate to that one area of my life. Life is a journey that follows many winding paths, and the best thing to do is have the courage to follow the path your heart tells you too. It will not always be easy, but it will always be worth it. If you ever find yourself standing there wondering "is this all there is to my life" or "am I actually happy" also remind yourself that this is but a moment, how much can change and occur in the course of a lifetime- even if it isn't over 100 years.
