As time goes by.

It's still the same old story, a fight for love and glory...as time goes by.

Last year I turned 80. And I'm proud of it! I feel like a survivor who's had many close calls, been down and out, and still, through sheer determination I managed to pull myself back up. And I like to think that I'm a better person for it. I might not look as pretty as I did when I was in my twenties and thirties but I sure do know a lot more. I consider it a fair trade off. It beats me why anyone would want to hide one's years.

And so, the days dwindle down and one becomes more aware than ever, that there's less time left, something that younger people seem to take for granted and rarely question. But that's OK! Enjoy those years. Dance and be merry and enjoy the dramatics of one's voyage through a sea of change. The good and the bad.

As one nears the end of the journey and the days "dwindle down to a precious few", one now looks longingly to go back and relive as many memories as possible. Most of the people are now gone through either death or just losing touch, but most memories are pleasant. Of course, there are some things we'd rather forget, but they're all important and they go into making us who we are today. Everything that is now, was meant to be.

What have I learned that I would like to pass on to others? We all have to find our own path but some paths are heavily traveled and the same for all of us. One is that nothing lasts forever. And that change is the one constant. Another is that when something unpleasant happens, we must try to make the best of it, live with it, deal with it, and try to learn from what happened. It might be difficult at the time to understand this emotionally, but eventually one does realize this. It couldn't have been different.
And in other words it's another way of saying that if it doesn't kill you, it will make you stronger.

I've found, after wasting so many years and searching in all the wrong places, that the one we should love and cherish, is oneself and from that love one can love everything else. It's only then when we love and respect ourself that we can love and respect others. Forgiveness and compassion start from within.

I've learned that many other people are so frustrated and angry, and even though they may have reason to feel so, they should not take it out on other innocent people or innocent animals. And in turning this around, it's important to realize that even though it's directed at us personally or even at us as a nation, we should not feel any lesser for it. We should try to find common ground and not be torn apart by differences, because we are more alike than different.

Eventually all truth has a way of coming to the surface. It's all a matter of being patient and knowing what you did was not out of hate but out of love.

The world has undergone an enormous amount of change since I was a child. Life seems to be going faster and faster and we seem to have a harder and harder time to just keep up. So much of what seemed to have been a safe world, is now becoming less safe and more unpredictable. Destruction that is now being done in the name of patriotisn is to me, impossible to accept for anyone with a conscience. We are really all one, and anything that hurts any living life is hurting all of us, and is nothing but a mass suicide.

I have enough faith that eventually there will come a turning point and as a united global people we will call out and insist that "enough is enough".

So look on the positive side, the glass that is half full, and follow your dreams while enjoying the miracle of all life, because no one really knows for sure if this is all there is, or if we as individuals might continue to live on, even if in a different form.

One other thing, we are all put here on earth for a reason. Some call it a "calling". It's for us to search until we find it. And when you do, everything else seems to just fall into place. We will then understand the reason why we are here.