HITTING THE REWIND BUTTON ON LIFE…LOOKING FORWARD

I am reading entries from my diary made exactly a year ago. Well what a discovery – above all what a wondrous way to look at life – after all we live it forwards but understand it backwards. My life runs into ‘replay’ mode. I relive experiences. I feel pain again when I recall the death of two good people – they are not physically present but they live on in my memories. I feel joy when I relive meetings with friends and family – the meals shared, the stories recounted, the songs we sung all come back to mind. What a great ‘pick-me-up’ this time has been. Coming to think of it – NOSTALGIA is not such a bad thing after all. Memories of the past can boost the present. Looking back at where my life is right now – I realize that I have come a long way…but much remains to be done.

And in an hour we will celebrate the farewell of some of our ‘brothers’ who leave on new assignments. How can we celebrate when sadness invades some part of our minds and hearts? We will try to because we also realize that life is all about growth and ‘moving on’. So we let them go – knowing that it will help them stretch beyond their comfort zones. It means that we will experience discomfort – because they go and because we have to learn to live with new ‘brothers’. Life moves on endlessly – we change, we grow and we help others grow…But, the bonds of friendship and love will not be broken just because a thousand miles separate us. Absence will not make our heart to wander – it will surely make our heart GROW STRONGER.