Blowing out the candles on a 75th birthday cake nearly took my breath away. \u00a0Not because there were so many candles. \u00a0Actually, there was only one. \u00a0Thank goodness. \u00a0It was simply the awareness of my age coupled with the realization that the years were slipping away all too quickly. \u00a0Years that couldn’t be repeated, recaptured, even remembered in some instances. \u00a0So why lament 75? \u00a0Simply because I don’t want my remaining years to slip by so easily, so “unannounced,” so nondescript.<\/p>\n
Each moment of our lives is sacred. \u00a0I know that’s not new information. \u00a0Each moment brings to us exactly the person or the situation we have been prepared for. \u00a0That’s information familiar to you too, no doubt. \u00a0There simply aren’t any real mysteries in our lives. \u00a0What will be, will be.<\/strong> \u00a0Personally, I like the certainty of that. \u00a0Sitting here, as a 75 year old woman, shows me that even when the odds of succeeding in life seemed unlikely, I did any way. \u00a0And I know why. \u00a0My life, like the life of everyone else, was divinely orchestrated. \u00a0Let’s take a deep breath and soak that in.<\/p>\n What have you accomplished in your life that you had not imagined you’d do, when you were just starting out? \u00a0Take a moment and make a list of those things. \u00a0Now see which ones had a very direct, and positive impact on others in your life. \u00a0This is not an exercise designed to give you bragging rights, but I do want you to see how valuable you have been to the other travelers you met along the way.<\/p>\n I’ve said it many times but it always bares repeating, you were a very necessary cog in the wheels of many lives you encountered during your journey. \u00a0And you will continue to impact others for the rest of your life, and beyond, perhaps. \u00a0To clarify, how many of us continue to read the works of great writers who have already passed? \u00a0Probably most of you reading this would answer in the affirmative. \u00a0For instance, great poetry is turned to for decades, even hundreds of years, following the death of the writer. \u00a0The same can be said for great philosophers, great novelists, \u00a0great historians.<\/p>\n The age of a body of information doesn’t negate its value. \u00a0It’s my hope that my books live on following my death. \u00a0The kind of books I write probably makes that a possibility. \u00a0Actually, that’s an awesome realization that what I labored over, always a labor of love, in fact, may well live on in the hands of people not even born yet. \u00a0That’s a thought worthy of taking a deep breath over.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Blowing out the candles on a 75th birthday cake nearly took my breath away. \u00a0Not because there were so many candles. \u00a0Actually, there was only one. \u00a0Thank goodness. \u00a0It was simply the awareness of my age coupled with the realization that the years were slipping away all too quickly. \u00a0Years that couldn’t be repeated, recaptured, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reflections-in-the-mirror-you-and-yourself","category-what-i-believe-you-and-your-higher-power"],"yoast_head":"\n