“What a wonderful life I’ve had!! I only wish I’d realized it sooner. ~ The writer Colette
I have heard folks talk about the good ole days and I wonder if they were only good because they are gone and did they think they were good when they were living in them. As I have gotten older I am quick to appreciate all the days and NEVER once do I want to live life backward. There are so many things that were fun when they happened and so many things that I certainly don’t want to do again. I like living life forward. Especially with all the wisdom learned in those good ole days!!!! LOL
The cool thing about getting older is you start to really dial in those things that really matter and the people that really matter. I think you also finally realize that most things are not as important or as urgent as you once thought they were.
I have also come to realize that people are pretty amazing and when they are not then they just need some extra grace. I love love love that I learned that the only street I need to clean is my own unless I am invited in. Cleaning up my life and keeping it straight is a full-time job.
There was a time when I wanted to pluck out the speck in my brother’s eye and had to move aside the board in my own to see his. But thankfully I had to clear my eyes a few times to realize that I can only see clearly looking through my own lens. My own filter.
Living this way has given me so much peace and the older I get the more valuable peace is in my life. And the more peace I have the more of it I want. As Christmas approaches, I am serene and not because I am ready for the big day. I am serene because I am so very thankful that I have realized that this is such a wonderful life and it has nothing to do with the presents and the food and all that jazz. All my family will be together and they are sober and they are healthy. I don’t know what else I could ask for!!!
So many Christmases were tense and frightful and spent in worry over the family members that had not yet found their peace. I had to learn to be happy and peaceful whether they were or not. But now that there is sobriety in my home, there is an extra level of thankfulness and peace and there is no present that could trump that.
My wish for all of us this season is to pause and reflect and be grateful for all of your life that has brought you here. All of it was so very necessary to give us this wonderful life we all have today.