By: SandyHibbard

SandyHibbard — Sun, 05 May 2024 21:12:55 +0000

In reply to Mark Goode. So beautiful Mark, thanks so much for sharing, this hits me right square in my life! All I can add is "beam me up Scottie!"

By: Mark Goode

Mark Goode — Sun, 05 May 2024 21:02:45 +0000

Sandy,
Thanks for the thoughtful post. I think those of us that have lived a while have experienced what you have described. Earlier in our lives we often have personal and professional experiences that bring us joy, fulfillment, and income. This triad of benefits becomes a psychological marker of sorts. And that would be great if life continued on, uninterrupted, in a marvelous upward arc of greater joy, greater fulfillment, and greater income.
But frequently, that arc is broken by forces we could not have seen or forecast. And the marvelous journey upward and outward is cut short. Like a space craft that fails to achieve orbit, we find ourselves careening back to earth, experiencing the heat, friction, and discomfort of re-entry into a life we thought we had left behind, that time of uncertainty, lack of fulfillment, and perhaps a paucity of income. For me, it is like turning 61 and feeling 16 again . . . only I know too much to re-enter that adolescent mindset of boundless optimism. I feel like I have been overcome by an avalanche of bad fortune, tossed asunder, and before long realize I am sliding backwards, not to a place of previous joy, fulfillment, or income. No, I feel like I am sliding towards a place that lacks those things.
And in the culture of youth that we helped create, we are now the older ones . . . and it is tempting to believe what we did when we were young, that “older folks” have nothing much to add. That they (now we) don’t “get it.” Well, I was wrong then . . .
What I am learning to do is to reconnect with those parts of me that animated me in my younger years BUT to do so with the wisdom and experience that life has brought me. It is the fusion of those two parts of me, part young and part older, that has become the secret to the “new me.” I still dream big dreams but I know where many of the traps are that entangle younger people. I can fly fast and know how to handle turbulence and stormy weather, conditions that intimidate people in their 30s and 40s. And I know now more than ever in my life that the One who loves me so deeply is drawing me like a tractor beam to what I am meant to be . . . all I have to do is find that beam and let it pull me. I cannot imagine all that awaits me but if Love is pulling me, why should I fear the future?
To return to the “space flight” analogy, I think of myself as piloting a space shuttle . . . a craft made to reach orbit, unload astronauts and materiel, and then return to earth. So, though I’ve made a steep descent from my life’s orbit in my late 40’s and 50’s, that’s okay. The friction of my return from that orbit was caused by the increasing density of the atmosphere, which actually gave lift to my shuttle’s wings. That’s the marvel of the space shuttle . . . it can reach space like a rocket and return to earth like a bird, gracefully floating to a landing with no power other than the force of gravity and the lift provided by the thick air we breathe.
Now, I am returning to space. I return wiser . . . I’ve been to space before, orbited the earth, performed many tasks, and learned from it. And I’m ready for a return trip.
The main stage rockets have ignited, the booster rockets are reaching full throttle, and my shuttle is once again accelerating through the atmosphere towards that beautiful starry sky . . . And I am commander of my shuttle. That is good: I am older, wiser, but with all the passion of my youth.
And this time . . . low earth orbit is just a stop on my journey. This time I’m headed for the moon.

Comments on: I am the keeper of my HEART and all its passion!

By: SandyHibbard

By: Mark Goode