Then it is Winter -- the Winter of my Life

[Photo credit: GOOGLE online images]

(7 Jan 2013 – Each day the image in one's mirror changes.  The years fly by, and then one day the mirrored image is that of a stranger. You touch the mirror, and you touch your face, and then wonder who that older person staring back at you is.  Where is that vibrancy and youthfulness of Yesterday?  How many Yesterdays have passed by, since you last saw that person?  And yet, you 'feel' the same, although the aches and pains of getting older are settling in for the duration.  Below is something I have seen on many websites, but have not found who authored it originally.  It seems close to my thoughts as I enter this new year of 2013, so I have transcribed and rewritten the story, and offer it here for reflection.
~Dorothy Hazel Tarr)

 

                             Then it is Winter -- the Winter of my Life!

 

Time has a way of silently moving by and catching you unaware of the passing years.  It seems only yesterday I was young, just married, and embarking on my new life with my mate.  Yet it is decades ago!  As I reflect now, I wonder where all the years went.  I know that I lived them all.

 

However, now it approaches -- THE WINTER OF MY LIFE -- and it catches me by surprise.  How did I get here so fast?  Where did the years go?  Where did my children go?  And, where did my youth go?

 

I remember well -- seeing older people through the years and thinking that those older people were years away from me.  My WINTER was so far off that I could not fathom it or imagine fully what it would be like.  Now, here it is.  My friends are retired, getting grey, and move slower.  They are not like the ones that I remember who were young and vibrant.  Some friends are in better shape and some worse shape than I am.  Like me, their age is beginning to show and we are now those older folks that we used to see and never thought we would be.

 

In my own mirror, I see an older person now.  I see the great changes of Time's Toll all around.  Each day now, I find that just taking a shower is a real goal for the day!  Taking a nap is not a treat anymore, it is mandatory!  For if I do not take a nap of my own free will -- I just fall asleep where I sit, succumbed to Nature's Spell!  I enter into this WINTER season of my life now, unprepared for all the aches, pains, loss of strength, and the ability to go and do things that I wish I had done--but never did!

 

Albeit I know the WINTER season of life approaches, I am not sure how long it will last.  Nevertheless, this I know, that when it is over – it is over.  Yes, I have regrets.  There are things I wish I had not done.  Things I should have done.  Things I could have done.  Then, there are many things I am happy to have done.  It is all part of a lifetime – an Earthly Journey.

 

If you are not yet in your WINTER season -- let me remind you, that it will be here faster than you think.  So, whatever you would like to accomplish in your life -- do it soon!  Do not put things off too long!

 

Life goes by while you are busy preparing for tomorrow.  All too quickly, the tomorrows come and go, and in your WINTER season, your life is seen in a backward glance to the past.  So, do what you can today, for you can never be sure whether this is your WINTER or not!  Whether this is your final season or not!

 

Since there is no promise that you will see all the seasons of your life, live for today and say all the things you want your loved ones to remember.  Then hope they appreciate and love you for all the things you have done for them in all the years past!

 

Life is your gift today!  The way you live your life is your gift to those who come after!  Make it a memorable one and live it well !

 

Remember—

It is health that is real wealth, and not pieces of gold or silver.

May you always have Love to Share, Health to Spare, and Friends that Care!

(Original author unknown; transcribed and rewritten by Dorothy Hazel Tarr, copyright Jan 2013)