On The Long Haul

Somewhere between birth and death, most of us will discover that we will be in it for the long haul. True, some lives will be foreshortened due to accident, illness or mischance, but at least those of us living in countries with good standards of living will have a shot at a lifetime of many years. The young seldom think about this unless they come into life with a burning urge to use their energies in a certain way…and lucky them. But for most of us, who we are, how we are and who we are to become unfolds in us over time.

More complicated...

It is natural that it should. We are definitely more complicated beings than we know and have the opportunities to live more expansively than our forebears. My mother was a child of the farm and did not hold the vision that her city-bred daughter and granddaughters did, and she probably would not have imagined the adventures that the great grandchildren she never saw now embrace.

Who will I be?...

We get to ask: Who will I be when I grow up? And I am not just thinking of those who recently finished a course of education and are looking for work. I am thinking also of those of us who may have many years of work behind us and are stretching our minds to what lies ahead. We, too, can ask this question, and we should. I know a man who managed a large municipal transportation system for years and now indulges his talent for embossing beautiful photos on wood, glass and metal, creating a whole, new medium. I know an esteemed professor of history who returned to the university to capture a degree in fine art.

"Second winds"...

In short, we are just not done at a certain age. We have any number of “second winds” in us. And who knows how many people may be assisted by those whose love for life turns itself into service at the close of a long work life? Looks like life is not really a non-stop air flight where we get on at one end and off at the destination. Seems more like being on a train…with lots of places to visit along the way.

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