You may have had or will have these particular feelings. When you are young and in high school, you only think about what you are going to do now or in the near future and are yearning for a new adventure. When one is a senior in high school, most feel like time is standing still and there is a need to speed it up. For most of us, life is very simple at this point. However, I feel sure many seniors in high school would disagree that their lives are simple. Every body's idea of a new adventure is different.
A new adventure could be getting married or going out into the "big" world and experiencing the "work place" or going to college. Sounds like fun and it is. I believe that this a part of one's life that is necessary to make us ready for the next part of our lives. Life is still pretty simple at this stage.
Next comes the children, mortgages, etc. and decision making - things that sometimes cause stress like you've never seen before. Now you're making decisions that affect people other than yourself and coordinating this, that and the other. You spend most of your time trying to please everybody at the same time. Uh, Oh! Life is getting more complicated. The simplicity of life is now gone. For the next twenty years or so, life starts moving at a faster pace and you start staying awake at night rethinking your past decisions. Your children become seniors in high school and you hope your guidance through their lives has prepared them to make good decisions and the correct choices for the next phases of their lives. We begin to understand the problems and stress our parents had.
OK, now the children are going off to school or to work and you start feeling a little lost because you are not making as many decisions or coordinating activities, etc. "Alright, this is great"! "I have time for myself". "Now is time to take up a hobby". "Wow! This is fun". "Oh no! Don't tell me - it's already Christmas again." It seems like years pass as fast as weeks. However, this is a great part of your life - you can see a reflection of one of the best times of your past - Grandchildren. WHAT A BLESSING!
You have wonderful grandchildren that make you smile every time you think about them. Your children who once thought you were the dumbest person on earth, now seek your advice. Doesn't that make you feel good and useful? Now, your life is simple again and you have no problems...WRONG!!! Instead of years passing like weeks; years now pass like days. You worry about your financial future. "Please let me have enough money to last the rest of my life." "Please let my health stay good so my children don't have to take care of me." "Are my children doing OK?" "Are my grandchildren healthy and happy?" Once you have children and a family, worries continue but you remember the guidance you gave your children and you feel assurance that they remember the same and are using their teachings to raise their children.
At the winter stage of your life, your mind wanders back to the simple times you had in school and all of a sudden - a classmate who you hadn't thought of in years comes to your mind. "I always liked him/her". "I wonder where they are and what they are doing". "I wonder if they have children and grandchildren". "I think I'll try to look them up and catch up on old times".
Isn't it amazing how time flies and how life seems to go in a circle?
Thank you, God, for letting me travel this great circle.
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