And so…

…time rolls on, as it does.

I have a certain vivid memory of being 12 years old in 1970 and thinking about the year 2000 and how far away it was, and how old I was going to be in 30 years, because at 12, 42 is ancient. And now, the year 2000, so science fictional and remote when I teetered on the knife edge of puberty, is now 11 years in the past. Turned out that 42 was a lot younger than I had imagined, and 53 even more so. It occurs to me that a good two-thirds of my time is gone, allowing that I will live to roughly the same age as my mum, who was almost 77 when she died. My father was only 59, but a heavy smoker and drinker and so on and so forth.

The past year did not unfold as I had thought it would at the beginning, but for the most part, good things overrode the bad. But the stressful parts were far more difficult in some ways than they needed to be. However, I’m still alive, still working, still enjoying my quiet life, still loving my friends, still enjoying my work, and all in all I am content. But I am almost always content. Contentment is a choice, really, isn’t it? It would be nice to have the literary success of Ms. Rowling, but it’s okay that I don’t. It would be nice to be fabulously wealthy, but it’s okay that I’m not. It would be nice to have a life partner to share everything with, but again, it’s okay to be on my own. I see no value in bemoaning the things I lack and ignoring the the things I have. I read somewhere that happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have. That makes sense to me. 

I am curious to see what 2011 will bring to me and to mine. I have a few goals, and a few desires to fulfill, but we’ll see how it all plays out. For all of you out there, I pray that this new year brings you good things more than bad, love more than fear, joy more than sorrow, and dreams more than nightmares.

Warm blessings to you all.