“We are all guilty of sin...the great sin of not living life to the full. Everything we hate, despise, and envy serves only to defeat us in the end. I say peace unto you all: and if you don’t find it, It’s because you haven’t looked for it.” —Henry Miller
Recently, I had a birthday. How time has flown--a calendar in the wind and a long story that sooner or later comes to an end!
What chapter opens now? I don't know. When you are young (YES! The sweet bird of youth!), you see a sunrise with all its possibilities and dreams. When you are getting old, you see a sunset of either beauty or regrets.
I prefer to choose to see the natural bounty of Beauty that surrounds us, with new adventures and opportunities awaiting, knowing you can still live Life to the fullest, even to the final chapter. I remember what my Mother told me not long before she passed away: "I have lived my life to the full!" I would like to add--her cup runneth over to the last breath!
I include this poem by Maya Angelou. It sums up the new chapter in my story:
On Aging
When you see me sitting quietly,
Like a sack left on the shelf,
Don't think I need your chattering.
I'm listening to myself.
Hold! Stop! Don't pity me!
Hold! Stop your sympathy!
Understanding if you got it,
Otherwise, I'll do without it!
When my bones are stiff and aching,
And my feet won't climb the stair,
I will only ask one favor:
Don't bring me no rocking chair.
When you see me walking, stumbling,
Don't study and get it wrong.
'Cause tired don't mean lazy
And every goodbye ain't gone.
I'm the same person I was back then,
A little less hair, a little less chin,
A lot less lungs and much less wind.
But ain't I lucky I can still breathe in.
From the Little Shack - Each Day, May Your cup runneth over!