Tonight begins Rosh Hashana, the celebration of the Jewish New Year. And so this is a blog on new beginnings.
I’ve always used this time to begin my planning for next year; a process of re-evaluation and choosing a path forward.
And as I get older I notice the draw by society and culture to a life I don’t want to be part of. It’s a life of old.
It’s not the life of wisdom, accomplishment, or what a proud elder might contribute to the world.
It’s a life of golf and bunco games. A life of doctors’ appointments and diagnose; a life of procedures and convenience foods. That life quickly gives way to a life of suffering and a slow and steady spiral downward.
Not the life I signed up for or will ever participate in.
You may say I don’t control my destiny, I’d highly disagree.
Life is all about the actions you take and how you look at it.
Yes, things may happen.
The father-in-law of a dear friend of mine, recently fell & broke a couple of ribs. One thing I know: his attitude in recovering from this will dictate the remainder of his life, regardless of his chronological age. That may sound dramatic, but it’s the absolute truth. However we view our lives and what has happened to us can bring us down or can bring us new opportunities.
Many of you know I’ve had major changes in many of my life circumstances over the past few years; a divorce and subsequent sale of my house & moving out of the community I lived in for over 30 years; my kids dispersed in different parts of the world and more.
Through all this, the inner work has let me to see that these things have happened for me and with me, not to me. I am not the victim, I am an intricate part of it. Whether I consciously chose each action I took, or each thing I said. What’s been most important is how I have viewed it, moved through it, and the lessons I’ve learned from it. Most importantly, the peace I have found, and the enthusiasm I continue to have for life itself.
So WHY am I telling you all this?
Because the deepest lesson I’ve learned is that life moves through you and with you to teach you lessons. They’re what you need to learn to become more of the Self you were meant to be. (Self is capitalized intentionally).
The journey I’ve been on has led me to a new place of strength and contribution. It’s a place where I feel the knowledgable elder coming through to coalesce all the learnings of the past almost 70 years and bring them to you in new form.
That’s why I’ll be announcing some new things coming up.
Watch for it!
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