What have we lost somewhere in the middle? As a person who is rapidly considered middle aged, I wonder what we can learn from talking to both young people and old people. I believe we can glean many things from both perspectives and be better people for considering the options. We can learn contentment in the current state we are in. Young people looking forward, old people looking back, possibly we all need to be living in the present more often than in the future or past. From surveying young and old, we find no one embracing the moment. Maybe the moment is the secret to life. One day at a time. For mistakes of the past, remember it was what you wanted at the time and learn from bad decisions and good decisions alike. Your decisions are what has molded you into the person of today.
Yesterday I ran the Murfreesboro Half Marathon. Somewhere around mile 9 I ended up beside a man and we struck up a conversation as we ran. He said, "Every street we run on reminds me of the past mistakes I made while I was in college." We were running around Middle Tennessee State University which is where this man graduated from. We discussed how those memories are what made him into the man he is today. He is happily married with children and has a nice life it seemed. Contentment is something that is not easily achieved here in our society as it exists these days. Bigger better more expensive seems to be our philosophy.
My husband and I were just discussing how content we are with life the way it is at this moment. We live an ordinary life, finding joy in the little things. Our kids are not over involved in things, we are not running all over creation to provide taxi service, our weekends are uneventful filled with things we want to do and not things we have to do. It is a good life. A content life.
I think many times in our younger years up until elderly years, we live in a whirlwind, feeling like we need to keep up with other people who are vacationing here or going there or their kids do this or that. With the addition of social media to our lives, we are more aware of what others are doing and it only makes it worse on some people feeling like they must be inadequate if their kids aren't in karate or they are missing out if their kids aren't in dance. Some feel less important if they are "late" getting married when their friends are all getting married. Then suddenly, we are married, have kids, the kids grew up, we are retired, then we are elderly and all we have are memories. If you are young and reading this you may not understand. What I am saying is we constantly look forward to the next phase of life and all of a sudden we are elderly. Life is but a vapor. Here and gone in a breath. Let us learn from the elderly that we should embrace the current phase of life and not worry about the next phase for in a snap it will all be gone.
Carpe Diem. Seize the Day. Grab life by the horns and love it. Love every little thing along the way. I recently read a book that interviewed hospice patients about what was their definition of the meaning of life. Their answers were all the same whether they were children dying of cancer or elderly people who were gravely ill-family and friends were most important. No one said they wished they worked extra days or more overtime, none said they wished they had more money. What they all wanted was to spend every moment with their friends and family while they were still here. Content. Living in the moment. Embracing the present.
May we all live in the present. For before we know it, all we will have is the past.
Thank you for reading my blog. Be sure and leave your comments here or on my Facebook page. I love to read them.
Jennifer
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