This has been an interesting and emotional week for me – these deeply personal thoughts are shared with the hope you find a nugget that you can hold close for understanding and comfort at some time.
To those of us who are what the world would probably call “ordinary folks”, time is the medium in which events take place. We generally feel comfortable referring to it as past, present and future. We all understand that “time marches on” and that we march right along with it.
This is a fact that we are most aware of when we experience certain life events and become very cognizant of one moment being “past” and the current moment being “present.” Now, we do understand that every moment we experience puts us in a “past, present, future” mode quick as a flash but we don’t really think of it that way.
Then one day we realize how swiftly the days and weeks and months have passed, sometimes even the minutes, seconds and hours; all of this seeming to happen almost unnoticed ~ and we have reached another milestone in our journey through life. This realization of time’s passage typically comes to us as a somewhat sobering thought. Wow, how did I get here all of a sudden?
This week I experienced two events that touched me with that passage of time phenomenon. The first was a trip to visit my aunt who recently celebrated with gusto her 90th birthday. Within a couple weeks following that gala event she received a diagnosis of incurable, untreatable cancer and a hospice program was established for her at her daughter’s home. I had the opportunity to sit alone with her to talk of life and death, fear and faith, family, friends, fun and memories. We had some great laughs as we walked down that memory lane together. And we cried tears together as we recalled some of the losses we shared ~ my Grandmother, her mother; her husband, my uncle; my brother, her nephew; my Mother, her sister; her son-in-law, my cousin’s husband; several of her grandchildren, my cousins … And I thought of destiny, that moment when time marches on without our physical presence, the time families are left behind with sadness in their hearts. I realized this visit may be my last opportunity to learn from and share with my dear aunt! I also, however, embraced a truth I know ~ that the time does come when the sadness becomes overshadowed by the delightful memories of good times, by the love held between each of us as we reach acceptance that time does, indeed, march on and waits for no one.
The second life event this week was my birthday which brought to mind the joys given to me by my children and grandchildren, the delightful life my husband and I share, the many people I count as friends. The reflection was all good with just an occasional tinge of sadness that I think came from my visit with my aunt ~ a feeling that time would soon be marching on with one less wonderful, loving person in my world. My birthday celebration was filled with family and friends, phone calls and gatherings, joy and expectancy of a new year beginning with all the opportunities for love, joy, success and surprises!
I was, however, very aware that the concept of a familiar saying “how time flies” really refers to the fact that change is dominant in our lives. But also that movement and change are not all there is ~ spirituality and philosophy give us many names with which to refer to the Universal Power that is everywhere present, surrounding and working through each of us – that Power is the source of our strength in times of joy and sorrow.
Time marching on …
I have always had an intuitional assurance that destiny is my friend. My family, including my Mother and my aunts, has provided some fabulous mentors who encouraged me to always “go on through”, to know there would be some disappointments and tough times, to know I would experience celebrations and get lucky breaks, to know that at some point I would always sense the signal to go forward. It seems to me a sense of destiny is an attitude of deep faith and expectancy of good, a strong belief in the importance of our purposes and plans, the courage to keep going in the face of difficulties.
And so, this week I continue to celebrate life in all of its facets.
While life is yours, live joyously!
~ The Charavaka
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