Dost Thou Love Life?

Time is passing...

The older I get, the faster it seems that time goes by. Actually, I am a little afraid at how fast it's going by. I remember being firmly in my 20s, feeling like the whole world was at my fingertips. I was very assuming about what I would accomplish. I wanted to become fluent in French and teach it to my children, at least to the one child I had given birth to at the age of 25. (Three more children would follow.) I wanted to be a great cook, mastering Chinese cooking and learning to can vegetables from my own garden. (Somehow I would fit in having a huge garden, even though we lived on a rented one-half of one-third of an acre.) Now, here I sit, looking forward to turning 43 this month, wondering how I managed to do so little of what I thought I wanted to get done. Suffice it to say that I have never moved beyond that first batch of rosehips jelly I finally made at age 39, and the only French I know is the few shreds left over from high school. Add to it all that my oldest son--the child who was going to learn French with me--hates anything academic, and especially foreign languages. At least I can smile about it.

The passing of time, star-crossed with chance, is reality.

Benjamin Franklin said,"Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of." I wonder how old Benjamin Franklin was when he said this. I don't think I could have fully appreciated the meaning of this saying in my 20s. I would have come back with a defensive, "I'm NOT squandering time!" But looking back, I've squandered a lot of things. I've spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted to have when I should have been actually doing. I have spent way too much time complaining. Complaining is something I would like to learn to never do. I have discovered that it accomplishes little. Also, I have found that it seldom moves others to action, and it certainly does not cause anything tangible to materialize. I have learned that most grand accomplishments come from planning and pure dedication and unwavering effort--call it "blood, sweat, and tears."

As if it weren't already enough that time is slipping away, even as we move to do the little we can do in this life, chance is ever present, altering the landscape that many people have to work with. Ecclesiates chapter 9 verse 11 says it all: "I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all." Time illuminated with good health and strength and a clear mind is precious--every single moment of it. One would be wise to value it, use it wisely, and not take it for granted.

Live with purpose!

The last thing I want to do is give anyone the blues. To the contrary, I want to give you joy! The passing of time, star-crossed with chance, is reality; but peppered with a bit of faith it becomes real life. Life is yours right now, in this moment. Live in a way that should tomorrow not come, there will be no regrets! Make sure you've hugged well your babies. Are there any gems you want to impart to them to help them deal with their own lives? Start sharing now! Have you read all the books you really want to read? Don't go anywhere without one of them--there's much time in life spent waiting. A good book gives meaning to it. Does your spouse know how much he/she means to you? Tell him/her now. Drink in the beauty of everyday life, from the songbird playing in the birdbath in the front yard, to the slobbery kiss from your 8-month-old, to the mess of wooden trains and books surrounding your toddlers, to your teenagers' excitement about all the world holds out to them on the brink of their own lives out in the "real world." Use the energy of all that has been given you to be nourished and to nourish.

Things that threaten to zap free time:

Television
Internet
Wallowing in self-pity
Complaining
Fads
Lack of vision
Lack of commitment

A Mother's Journal

Livin N Writin About It

Five In A Row ~ The "Heart" of our Homeschool:

Art of the Month:
"Rowing"

Quotations

"A rich child often sits in a poor mother's lap."
Danish proverb

"I hear and I forget.
I see and I remember.
I do and I understand."
Chinese proverb