Well, 2009 came whether we wanted it to or not. I woke up this morning and it was here. Of course, I saw it come in last night and although I really was not looking forward to a New Year, it came anyway.
That’s the funny thing about time. You cannot stop it, control it, back it up or do anything about how fast it goes by. Time will continue whether or not we do or not. If I stop my own life (a futile, but permanent, gesture), time will continue to roll on. And I would be the only one who would miss out on the good stuff.
There is a song by Garth Brooks that he sung several years ago called “The Dance”. The lyrics go as such: “And now I’m glad I didn’t know/ The way it all would end, the way it all would go/Our lives are better left to chance/I could have missed the pain/But I would have had to miss the dance”.
Although there are a lot of things I regret in my life, all my experiences have all come together to bring me to where I am right now, for better or worse. And there have been some great times that I will always cherish. Little things like visiting a Bazaar in Turkey on a sunny, hot July afternoon. Watching the brilliant shooting stars from my vantage point high on a burm surrounding ammunition bunkers in Turkey on a midnight shift with my Air Force patrol dog, Pax .
Walking through the small English villages while stationed in the United Kingdom. Taking that alpine boat tour where I couldn’t understand a word the tour guide was saying outside of Bertchegarden, Germany, when I went to a Christian retreat. Seeing the Northern Lights from 9000 feet as I flew from Omaha to Kansas City with cargo in my airplane. Or seeing the static electricity from the dry snow hitting my propeller as I flew a smaller, single-engine airplane across the state of Missouri with bank checks and other paperwork on a cold January morning. Or the time I was flying out of Nashville in a twin-engine airplane and the cloud deck just covered my wings, but let me see clear skies above them.
I could have missed the pain of burying my wife after only 6 years of marriage, but I would have missed the incredible joy of seeing the sparkle in her eyes when I proposed marriage outside the A&P grocery store. Or hearing her southern twang as I walked through the door as she called out, “Hey!”.
A friend of mine lost his mother about a week ago and he is dealing with that great loss right now. He doesn’t quite know how to get through the pain to the other side. The road is not clear and he is afraid. I just lost my job on Monday, and I am dealing with a little bit of fear and depression about the future and the road is not clear.
All I know to do is keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep walking down this life. My mother once said a truism to me. “This too, shall pass.” It may sound trite and stale, but truisms are called truisms because they are true. I will not always feel down and I will not always feel up. It’s like the weather in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. If you don’t like it, wait awhile; it will change. Life is like that. If you don’t like it, or if you do like it, it will change.
That’s the funny thing about time. You cannot stop it, control it, back it up or do anything about how fast it goes by. Time will continue whether or not we do or not. If I stop my own life (a futile, but permanent, gesture), time will continue to roll on. And I would be the only one who would miss out on the good stuff.
There is a song by Garth Brooks that he sung several years ago called “The Dance”. The lyrics go as such: “And now I’m glad I didn’t know/ The way it all would end, the way it all would go/Our lives are better left to chance/I could have missed the pain/But I would have had to miss the dance”.
Although there are a lot of things I regret in my life, all my experiences have all come together to bring me to where I am right now, for better or worse. And there have been some great times that I will always cherish. Little things like visiting a Bazaar in Turkey on a sunny, hot July afternoon. Watching the brilliant shooting stars from my vantage point high on a burm surrounding ammunition bunkers in Turkey on a midnight shift with my Air Force patrol dog, Pax .
Walking through the small English villages while stationed in the United Kingdom. Taking that alpine boat tour where I couldn’t understand a word the tour guide was saying outside of Bertchegarden, Germany, when I went to a Christian retreat. Seeing the Northern Lights from 9000 feet as I flew from Omaha to Kansas City with cargo in my airplane. Or seeing the static electricity from the dry snow hitting my propeller as I flew a smaller, single-engine airplane across the state of Missouri with bank checks and other paperwork on a cold January morning. Or the time I was flying out of Nashville in a twin-engine airplane and the cloud deck just covered my wings, but let me see clear skies above them.
I could have missed the pain of burying my wife after only 6 years of marriage, but I would have missed the incredible joy of seeing the sparkle in her eyes when I proposed marriage outside the A&P grocery store. Or hearing her southern twang as I walked through the door as she called out, “Hey!”.
A friend of mine lost his mother about a week ago and he is dealing with that great loss right now. He doesn’t quite know how to get through the pain to the other side. The road is not clear and he is afraid. I just lost my job on Monday, and I am dealing with a little bit of fear and depression about the future and the road is not clear.
All I know to do is keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep walking down this life. My mother once said a truism to me. “This too, shall pass.” It may sound trite and stale, but truisms are called truisms because they are true. I will not always feel down and I will not always feel up. It’s like the weather in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. If you don’t like it, wait awhile; it will change. Life is like that. If you don’t like it, or if you do like it, it will change.
No comments:
Post a Comment