Monday Ramble

Oh, my, another Monday morning.  Another week of work ahead of me.  Where does the time go?  The heat and humidity are back in full force today, and it was just a dreadful trip to work this morning. I just cannot stand sweating, never could. And then you have those who not only sweat, but also do not believe in proper hygiene and deodorant. Ever sit next to someone who showers themselves with cheap cologne...but seems to have forgotten to take a shower?  

"When Time who steals our years away
Shall steal our pleasures too,
The mem'ry of the past will stay,
And half our joys renew."

--Thomas Moore, 1779-1852--

How many of us spend much of our lives wishing for better times?  We may wish we could turn back the pages of time to an earlier period that now appears to have been much better than the present.  Or we may wish to move forward in time to some hoped-for happy moment in the future.  It is the present that most of us have trouble living in. Yet, let's face it, the present is the only time period in which we can ever live.            

Personally, I see nothing wrong with remembering the 'good old days'. In fact, some of my past memories give me the greatest joy.  Who doesn't smile when they recall riding your bike as fast as the wind or holding your nose and jumping into a cooling lake on a hot summer day. It is when we dwell in the past that we run into problems...when we see no hope of the future...or fight the process of aging...that we run into problems.  We start to say, 'oh, how i wish I was"...or "Those where the best years of my life."  But were they?  Were they really?

Isn't it  possible that the "good old days" weren't really as good as we remember them? Are we remembering only the good parts of the past and blocking those  memories the unpleasant parts?  Are we focusing too much on the negative aspects of the present and ignoring some pretty good aspects of our current lives?  Isn't it possible that if we really try, that we can almost always find something to feel good about almost every day, or at least every stage of our lives?  

My goodness, did I ever fight the aging process.  I never wanted to grow old; I wanted to stay forever young.  There was a time I hated to look at myself in the mirror, and when I did, I usually blacked out all the flaws or wrinkles. Whenever people asked my age, I always took at least ten years off...and for a long time was able to get away with it.  But, there comes a time when age catches up with you, and you can either continue to deny it and be unhappy, or you can embellish it as a stage of life.
    

"Youth is like spring, an over-praised season more remarkable for biting winds than genial breezes.  Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits." -  Samuel Butler   

   
We grow older,  our children grow up and leave home to start their own lives and families.  And many of us find that as we grow older we are forced to give up some activities that we enjoyed so much in our younger years. True, but aren't there new activities available that can help to replace the lost ones?  Isn't it better if we find them rather than spend our time moping about what we have lost?  Our lives are a treasured gift.  Let's not waste them by thinking 'what if...'.

"A man who dares to waste one hour of life has not discovered the value of life."- -  Charles Darwin