On Loss

           Most of us understand loss at some level.  Even the youngest among us knows how it feels to lose a favorite toy, and as time passes, we come to experience the loss of a loved one to death or sometimes a beloved job to the passage of time and circumstance.  At these times it may seem that life has been squeezed out of us, so hurt and empty we may feel, but aren’t there also instances when somehow during a sad loss, life is squeezed back into us?  It may be that the natural need for recovery and healing causes us to dig deeply into ourselves and tap into a resiliency we did not know we had!

We have a larger heart of love and peace...          

 During these difficult times we may find that we have a larger heart of love and peace than we had imagined!  Of course no one looks forward to the pain and emptiness of loss, but what a wonderful surprise it would be to discover that there is more in us to go around than we knew.  There is more of us that can be warmly extended to others during shared sorrows, even as our own hearts are breaking.

More to us than we know...         

  Perhaps we should pay more attention to how we navigate the ups and downs of our days.  There may be more to us than we know!

On Getting Older

            As we engage in living from year to year, we should be noticing that we are adding to ourselves in wisdom, love and understanding.  That is, if we are truly participating in the coming and goings of our own lives.  Otherwise we will simply be getting older, which is inexorable.  We can avoid advancing our life’s structures if we give no thought to what lies before us, what needs our attention.  Then we really will just be growing older.  But if we are looking forward to good use of our time and energy, we will surely find the wonderful reasons for advancing years.

            Youth can be wonderful.  Our energies are going full tilt, and our bodies respond to our calls upon them, but we may also find that we are becoming more of who we truly are as we add more years to our statures.   Youth cannot know everything, and it takes the broadening of our minds and hearts through passing years to let us know this.  However, simply aging is no guarantee of the acquisition of its treasures, but living fully, moving courageously into what we can become is.

            Some clever folks have said that there’s got to be a good reason for getting older, a sly comment that causes us to smile.  Though we may have cause to wonder about this at times, if we take Socrates’ advice and examine our lives, we shall surely find ourselves thriving amidst our successes and failures.