Each and every day—I think of the journey—the time span that encompasses our lives from birth to the moment we pass. I think of each life as chapters or phases—periods of time that come and go in our lives. One ends and the other begins. Sometimes two melt into one—a continuance. Experiences are either positive or negative. Sometimes—they’re somewhere in between.
I’ve had a good life—more good than bad. The bad, however, has surely been life changing. Some of it permanent—forever—never to return to what it was before the trauma. Sometimes, it is best to take three steps backwards to move forward in a more positive way. And sometimes, we must circle in an altitude hold until we can sort out where we are going.
Sacrifices made in order to have a better life.
My father always stressed cutting your losses and knowing when to quit and move on—and he was in no way a positive man. My mother always termed him a “man’s man…” Well, what the hell did that mean? That he never let anything bother him? Didn’t mean much on a personal level. He was not the guy to go to when you were feeling beaten and needed someone to tell you all would be be okay.
My mother was good for that.
My dad was a product of his experiences – the rough and tumble way he was raised during the Great Depression and the damage done to his psyche’ during his formative years growing up in Kansas City. He didn’t know any different but to tell you to buck up and deal with it much as he was told as a child.
We heal by taking a bad experience and gaining inner strength from it, which is easier said than done. Pain is pain. It teaches and it remembers. It makes recovery challenging when we’re feeling so badly. Because we have a memory and store memories of the past, we tend to relive pain again and again. However—to become stronger from what we’ve been through, we have to look pain in the eye and commit to beating it.
Some experiences are harder than others. A traumatic experience is challenging to recover from. When I go through a bad experience, I get into head work for my very survival—to remind myself it is over and that there’s nothing I can do about it. Once you understand there’s nothing you can do about a bad experience, you empower yourself by grabbing it by the throat and shaking the life out of it.
When all else fails – have a cookie…
Lyrics: Turn, Turn, Turn!
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven
A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven
A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven
A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven
A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time for love, a time for hate
A time for peace, I swear it’s not too late
Boomer Journey... 