Counting the Days

Sometime during my lifetime I read or heard that "we should live for the moment. Yesterday is gone, never to change, and we don't know what the future will bring. All that we can control is the present".

All in all, not a bad outlook on life. I suppose it was meant to bring comfort and peace to those guilt-ridden over their past and to those anxious and worried about tomorrow. Again, much as those Pollyanna extremists, ideas that emerge to bring peace of mind sometimes bring unforeseen results.

For me, I cherish the loving memories, learn from my errors and try to adjust my present life. I have lived a life of challenges, errors, adventures, happiness, sorrows, learning and love. If I do not recall the joys and learn to accept the changes I have made in my beliefs, thoughts and decisions, then the past was for nothing. I have learned to embrace all of it and try not let it completely define who I have become.

As for living for the future....I remember early on waiting, waiting for the tomorrows. There were the weeks of anticipation before Christmas. I remember dreaming, plotting to plant seeds for my parents to sow in my packages under that beautiful, sweet-smelling evergreen, topped with the shining angel and covered with the painstakingly decorated silver tinsel. Those weeks of anticipation, pouring over the catalogs, standing longingly in front of the colorful store windows were not a waste. At times those days were sweeter than the actual day of opening and indulging, with the subsequent disappointments that sometimes followed. That, too, was a learning experience.

There were the days of counting...counting the days until vacation, counting until that trip, counting until a fresh start in a new job or school year, counting until an arrival. And then there were the times of waiting until a loss of a loved family member, friend or pet.

Waiting can be the hardest, I recently blogged, but it might also be a time of eager anticipation. Either way, counting the days can be...just might be....a time of growth and understanding. I sincerely hope that I continue on a path of learning until that time when I can no longer remember the past or wait for tomorrow.

P.S. Tom: it is fun to see you counting the days until your trip to the Hills and your eagerness to be a part of our celebration in Hot Springs, "Honoring Our Heroes".  For those of you who want more information on this event here from July 31 through August 4, visit www.legionriderspost71.com. This is an invite for your tomorrow. Y'all come. You won't be disappointed. See for yourself - we are truly the Veterans Town.