Back when traveling and retreats were still possible, 😿 I went to a place in Mexico that held a lot of memories called Puerto Escondido.
The first time I was there was 35 years ago, when I travelled in a van with a boyfriend and we camped there.
The second time I went I was a mom with two young kids and a husband.
The third time was on a yoga retreat and I was a 50-something yoga teacher with fabulous students. I was also divorced and was on the verge of being an empty nester.
It was hard to not look back at who I was and who I had become.
I wrote this one night as I lay in my bed – hoping to sleep but I was so full of questions I had to write them down.
Warning – this post contains more questions than answers.
How do you age gracefully and not be haunted by memories – both good and bad?
How do you honour the memory of a loved one without living in the past?
How do you live in the moment without being pulled in the direction of regret?
Who really lives a life without regret?
How do you keep looking forward and keep gratitude alive?
How do you reconcile hope with loss?
The losses – whatever they are- that we will all experience by the time we are past 50.
We all have a past.
We have all tried and failed at something.
We have all lost someone we loved.
Things may have not turned out the way we wanted them to.
We no longer have the same physical form we once had, no matter how fit we are.
All this and now we may be attempting to re-invent ourselves. Children who have been our lives leave. Work may be winding down. Things that seemed so important don’t matter anymore.
But we also have a present and a future to consider.
That future can seem scary at times – we are no longer naive enough to think it will be easy.
We ask ourselves this:
Who am I now?
What do I want out of life?
What is possible for me?
The answers are unique as we are. The time and the space to answer these questions are invaluable. This is why I travel. This is why I do retreats. Transitions are hard – give yourself the time and space to think about them.
You may not have answered these questions, but the questions themselves tell us a lot about you, Kathy. Thanks for sharing as much as you did here and giving me so much to think about. Boy, do I have work to do!
Wow – thanks for reading Annie. You are one of my blogging heros!
Thank you for posting this blog and these questions — you have given me the impetus to do a little (or maybe a lot of) writing this evening.
Thanks for reading Carolyn! So glad it resonated for you.
Maybe it’s that we keep asking ourselves these questions what helps us to age with grace. Maybe we stop aging gracefully when we think we know the answers to things to which there really aren’t answers? Love this post.
thanks Nancy.
Wow all those questions are in my mind but having very few awswer for them I try to push them away
Thank you for reminding me to faces them and thank you for behind you Kathy
thank you Diane. xo
Wow do I have thinking and again to do Thank you Kathy for everything you say and do
thanks for reading Diane! xo