The Creation of A Life

The best way to prepare for life is to begin to live.
Elbert Hubbard

Creating is such a dynamic process.  Some plan through the entire process.  Some get started and see where the creative process takes them.  I have joked with friends about not having a life and they have asked me in jest where one can be bought.  I wish I knew a place where the finest lives can be bought.  I would get one.  Fortunately you and I have the ability to invest our time on quality pursuits that feed us but we can also choose not to.

I sat with a couple this week who have been married for 12 years.  They are in their late forties.  I asked him what they did together as a couple.  He responded that they do nothing and have nearly nothing in common.  He explained that he worked 6 days a week and put in nearly 60 hours or more a week.  He is also a new grandfather and reports that he suffers from guilt because he rarely sees the baby.  He is creating a life filled with regret and he knows it.  I suggested he set up a weekly pizza date with his child and grandchild that is the same time every week at his house when he would normally come home for supper anyway.  Then we talked about planning activities they each like individually and giving to each other by sharing their company in these pursuits.

I am committed to my marriage.  The cancer and cancer treatments bring a lot of fatigue which make it really hard to actively participate in a family life.  Working can really take it out of me and by early evening I often do not have anything left.  It can be a real difficult balance to push myself to do more and enjoy my life while trying to get the rest I need for my best chance at recovery. 


My father and my son in Bar Harbor, ME

In the last 12 years the couple had not taken a vacation since their honeymoon.  I asked them what they are looking forward to and they shook their heads at me sadly.  They had accumulated some debt and were working to pay it. The husband felt especially driven to take care of this responsibility and is the busy type who enjoys working.  He said it would be nice to have something to look forward to with his wife in addition to his yearly hunting trip. I responded to them that they should go home and begin to plan something so that they would have something to look forward to.  I hope that they will.

Dost thou love life?

Then do not squander time,

for that is the stuff life is made of.

Benjamin Franklin

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.
Helen Keller

Thanks to my friend Roxanne here is what I am looking forward to...

http://www.imperialfiesta.com.mx/

For all of you generous people out there who have been so kind and have contributed so that I may have this trip with Roxanne I would like to thank you from the very bottom of my heart.  I am so excited about this and am looking forward to it.  I am bursting at the seams with gratitude.