There and Back Again

Pondering: “I always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I am realistic enough to know that life is a complex matter.” (Walt Disney)

Today, I celebrate another birthday. Another year older. Another step farther from the carefree days of my youth. Another mile deeper into maze of life. John Mayer, in one of his songs best summed up how I used to feel about growing old: “So scared of getting older, I’m only good at being young. So I play the numbers game, to find a way to say that life has just begun.”

But as I grow wiser with each passing year, I begin to understand and accept that there is no stopping time. Instead of holding on to the memories of my youth, I best start letting go. Accept what I cannot control and go with the flow.

A few days ago, I was watching this mini-series and one of the characters said that he read somewhere that after 25 million years we live again. We meet the same people we met 25 million years ago, love the same loves, and experience the same things over again - just like the life-span of the great heavenly stars.

I truly believe this. The thought that one day, I will meet and be with all the ones I love again, maybe under the same circumstance yet as if for the first time, comforts me when I worry about old age, the people I love and the after life.

I raise my glass for a toast and throw caution to the wind as I say to my future: Bring it on!