August & Everything

Here we are, the turning of another year for me.  I'll have to switch from saying nearly forty to over forty.  Yes, dears, this is the month I was born and I can only imagine how miserable my mum felt waiting those last few weeks in the oppressive August heat.

This is the age, I think, where most people look back on their lives.  Statistically speaking it's over halfway through and this is when depression and and discontent set in for many.  But it's important to note as I too look back that it's not over yet.  There is time to do the things undone, to correct some of the mistakes, to forgive the hurts, and to forget the rest.

I'm not immune to that sadness that comes with the passing of my 30s, or looking back and being filled with so much regret.  It will drown me if I let it.  It takes a conscious effort to stop those thoughts and sometimes it takes an iron will, a daily resolve to focus on the blessings and the laughter of the past 40 years rather than the pain that I have both caused and been a victim of.  But, it can be done.

Each day presents us with the opportunity to celebrate.  Celebrate means to observe, to proclaim, to perform rituals.  So, with each day will you observe (give regard) to your failures or your successes?  Will you proclaim your blessings or your misfortunes?  Will you perform the rituals of fixating on the past that lead to self pity, or will you begin to form new pathways in your mind and life that lead you to walk in daily thankfulness?  Even in your hurts you can be thankful.  Yes, we lose innocence, but we gain wisdom and empathy and those are very precious things indeed.

So, here I am, at 40 years, and the temptation to despair is lurking.  But I refuse to indulge.  I choose to look ahead instead of behind.  The past is done; I can't change it.  But my life's not over yet and I intend to put away bitterness and regret, and embrace forgiveness and adventure and each new challenge as it comes.  Everyday of this life is a gift; make the most of it.  Keep living.  Be thankful.  Be Kind.  Forgive everyone, even yourself.