Veterans of Life

Life’s Like This — When you do nothing, you feel overwhelmed and powerless. But when you get involved, you feel the sense of hope and accomplishment that comes from knowing you are working to make things better. Life can be so unpredictable. Dreams that your life was built on could be dashed by circumstances beyond your control and leave you feeling depressed and without a purpose in life. There is no way to tell when and if your dreams may be fulfilled. The best we can do is to be prepared for the unexpected and to realize that life happens and that despite our best efforts to fulfill life goals, that sometimes our plans don’t turn out as we had hoped for. And when our dreams don’t materialize, we have a choice — do we give up on our dreams and spend the rest of our lives complaining about what could have been, or do we chart a new course, one that is full of hope for the future and that serves as a springboard for a new sense of purpose for our lives.

Passage of Time

 Life’s Like This — The passage of time is often the healing medicine our hearts need to recover from disappointments in life. Sometimes events occur that cause us a great deal of pain and anguish. I think we all have events like that; events that may be unique to you or it may be something that you share in common with countless other people. But whatever the troubling event, the passage of time offers hope for all of us. Even when the pain is completely overwhelming and the future looks dismal, we can always cling to hope.

My father once said, “Know first your aim in life then strive with all within you to reach your goal.” I never thought much about these words of wisdom he shared with me so many years ago, but as the years have gone by and obstacle after obstacle seem to have put a wedge between life and my dreams, I can’t help but pause and reflect on what he shared and the implication it has had in my life. For so long I have found myself disappointed in not having dreams of mine fulfilled — dreams of a fulfilling career and of financial success. But when I reflect on my disappointments, I find that I have been lacking an essential component of life — clarity of purpose.