Farewell to 2022...Another Year Ticks Away

We have all seen some endings, haven't we?

The older we get, the more endings we experience. Some we welcome with open arms and a sense of relief when difficult times run their course and the sun finally breaks through the shadows.

Other endings remind us that the only sure thing in life is change. We meet these endings with a mixture of sadness, trepidation, dread, denial, and emotional pain and/or anticipation.

Without exception, each of us begins this life as a newborn infant and swiftly progresses from one developmental milestone to another. Learning to turn over in bed on our own volition is a feat that is met with unbridled enthusiasm by excited parents.

Crawling, pulling up, standing alone, taking that first step that begins our mobile lifetime journey...all these milestones deserve to be recorded and celebrated!

It seems like in the blink of an eye, infancy, toddlerhood, and early childhood pass, making way for the agony and the ecstasy of adolescence and the teen years.

So many firsts happen during this time of our lives. First dates. First love. First shaving of the first facial hair. First period. First bra. First Driver's Ed class, first time "under the wheel". FIRST KISS!

Adolescence and teen years are a like a whirlwind of new experiences, changing us almost daily from the person we were yesterday to someone we hardly recognize today.

High school graduation, applying to and being accepted by a college of our choosing, picking an academic major, or pursuing a trade that will lead to a rewarding job or career loom large in the young adult years.

Those major human milestones could never be realized without other things ENDING.

The goal of college is to work hard, study with discipline, and reach another ENDING!

Another ending that brings yet another BEGINNING!

The College Degree, Diploma, or Certificate is one of the tools in our tool kit that helps open the door to a job or career that will hopefully bring us gratification, fulfillment, monetary gain, financial independence, and a happy, productive adult life.

Decades of meaningful work allows us to make our contribution to society and make a difference in our world.

As we grow older, we leave the young adult years behind...something we subconsciously kind of thought would never happen...but it always does. Middle age brings new challenges as we seek to guide our children, nieces, nephews, or other young people as they find their way in this hard, puzzling world.

While we observe our own mental and bodily changes in these middle adult years and hold the lantern for the next generation, we who are blessed to still have our parents in our lives will watch as they slow down and begin their decline into eventual old age.

It is a time fraught with emotional changes seemingly from EVERY direction.

As we experienced the births of our children in our early adulthood, we complete the circuit when we accompany our parents to the fruition of their lives and stand by to help them with the final change. They were with us when our lives began. We might be able to accompany them to the ending of their life's journey.

I have experienced both.

Both of these life experiences have changed me, made me a different person than I had been before.

These penultimate experiences have given me a whole new appreciation and love for life every minute of every day.

So when New Year's Eve comes around, as it has today (my 73rd New Year's Eve), I realize how precious each year, each day, each minute really is.

As 2022 yields its strength to 2023, I think of my many blessings, my many beloved friends and family members, and I feel humbled and grateful!

It would not seem possible for me to end this story without acknowledging the difficult challenges we, as human beings, face while living in a world wracked with suffering, disease, war, climate disasters, hatred, bigotry, divisions where there should be unity, hunger, and devastation.

I hope you will join me in committing to give your all to making the world a better place in 2023 than it is as 2022 signs off the stage of history.

None of us can do everything needed to change the world for future generations, beginning in 2023. ALL OF US can do something. Let's join hands and hearts to create a better future for everyone with whom we share our precious home, Mother Earth.

And in the midst of all these changes, beginnings, and ENDINGS, we can reach out and lend a helping hand to someone in need each day!