A Look Backward

A look Backward     

By John W. Vander Velden

As the year comes to its conclusion, it is perfectly normal to look backward at the year or years behind us. Personally, I take too much time looking in the rearview mirror for my own good, dwelling upon stumbles I’ve made. It’s OK to look back, but I should not dwell there, and overall I don’t.

But as I look forward to the new year ahead, I hope I have learned something from 2018. For the year contained many firsts. Imagine that, this old dog had new experiences. I, like most, faced a few frightening things during the year, and have overcome a couple of threats to my person. To clarify, these dangers came from life in general not from an angry individual. But I have had many wonderful experiences that outweigh the negative many times over.

The thrill of holding the first copy of my book cannot be measured with a ruler. The wonderful people I have met while I promoted Misty Creek will long be remembered. Watching my son graduate from Purdue University will always be a pinnacle of my life, though moving him out of state carries its own melancholy. Life goes on and to the fortunate it brings new things, but it is up to us to reach out and grab the golden ring isn’t it.

We did a bit of traveling in 2018 and saw new places in a way we haven’t before. Life is meant to be lived and there are many ways to live it. Watching our children’s wings grow stronger, even if that means they fly further away. Trying something new like writing a book. Traveling to new places. Facing new challenges and difficulties. All these things are part of the life we have been given. All these things...the good and the bad as well are gifts and should be appreciated.

So a new year stands before me and I have no idea what it will bring. But that’s the magic of it. To be wide open to the 365 days of possibilities. Yes, there will be setbacks. Yes, there will be things I would rather not face, but must. Yes, there will be heartbreak. But there will also be those amazing moments, fantastic sunrises and sets, the huge full moon when it breaks the horizon, there will be friends and laughter, and there will always be love. And that is  the greatest thing of all.

For each day I know I am surrounded by love. Love from people I know, friends and family. Love from my faraway son. Love from my beloved, Jackie, who makes my life livable, and love from God that makes my life possible.

So take a look backward...but don’t dwell in the past. Look forward...but don’t get lost in what might be...it is the now that matters and the love that surrounds.

12/25/2018 (479 Words)