Reflections of a Soon-To-Be Grandmother
Life is a series of transitions, both good and bad. They flow into each other and piece themselves together as the fabric of our lives. They bring with them a feast of human emotions that fill us up and demand that we remain in the present moment, as we struggle to understand and tame them. For today’s musings, though, I will focus on the happy ones…and all of the accompanying emotions they bring.
I recently watched (and thoroughly enjoyed) the newly released Beatles documentary which was originally taped in 1969, just before they broke up. It elicited an array of mixed emotions. Ultimately though, I settled on one obvious thought; how quickly time flies. We blink and a year has gone by. Blink again and it’s a decade that has passed. The (surviving) Beatles of my youth are older, with wrinkles of wisdom replacing their youthful glow. Yet, I wonder, what choice do we humans have? What can we do but observe and react as we live our lives.
Time does indeed fly by. It seems like just yesterday I was a teenager, waiting impatiently to grow up and have all of those adult privileges (of course I had no understanding of those pesky responsibilities that come along for the ride). It seems like just yesterday I was in college, then living on my own and planning my wedding. It seems like just yesterday I was waiting impatiently and anxiously to become a new mother and hold my baby girl in my arms. It seems like just yesterday my daughter was a baby, a toddler, entering school for the first time, and a teenager. I blinked and my daughter was off to college, living on her own and planning her wedding… and now about to become a new mother, waiting impatiently and anxiously to hold her baby girl in her arms. The circle of life…all the best of life’s transitions rolled into one big beautiful circle. It’s truly amazing how many emotions a human can feel at the same time…happiness, sadness, melancholy, anticipation, contentment, fear, anxiety (to name a few). When we take the time to ponder and analyze our emotions, we can better separate and understand what we are feeling…and learn and grow from them. Self-awareness is our friend.
The theme here is to learn from the past, always live in and enjoy the present moment and happily hope for the future. Remember to embrace the taste and touch of all the various emotions that life throws your way, even the painful ones. It is how we know we exist and remain truly alive. I plan on embracing every moment, every feeling, every experience and to make memories that will live on. I want to bungee jump into each day and immerse myself in all of its highs and lows…I wait impatiently and anxiously to hold my baby girl’s baby girl in my arms.