78 Years + 1 Day…..

Photograph by Tony Rogers

It was Mark Twain that said, “The thing about garrulous old people is that they come to a certain advanced age and then climb up on their soap box and tell the rest of us how they got  there!”

I plead guilty, but it is with the best of intentions!  Yesterday I turned 78, and it has me thinking…… so if you will give me a minute to crawl up on the soap box, I’ve got some things I want to share!

It seems to me that after almost 8 decades of living, I have come to some truths I want to share with you.  Accept them or reject them, at least give them some serious thought before you discard them.

5  Things You Need to Have a Meaningful Life:

1.   Faith in something bigger than yourself.  You don’t have to live very long to figure out that you don’t have much control or maybe even no control over the things that happen in this life.  If you can’t count on yourself, then who do you count on?  Sorry, but your friends and family are no better qualified to figure all this out than you are!  Face it, there is a God and He made you, loves you more than you could ever understand and cares about where your life here on earth is going!  Trust Him, He will never let you down.

 2.  The path to peace is forgiveness.  We’ve all been hurt by others and it is easy to hold on to the hurt and develop grudges and often, if left long enough, turns to bitterness and hate.  Hate does not only kill the one we hate, it kills us too. If you want to shed baggage that is hurting you and others, forgive them. 

3.  If you love yourself more than you love others you will never find joy.   Joy in life comes from the love of others.  Healthy self worth is good, consuming love of self is a fatal trap.  You can never truly be an advocate for others if you place your self interest above them.  When I was young and immature, when I met a better photographer than myself ,(which was often),  I was threatened by them and held it against them, over time I came to realize that other’s success did not subtract from mine and that I could be genuinely happy for them and their success.  Life became so much better when I let go of too much self love!

4.  One of the most endearing qualities you can have is being appreciative.  You should spend much of your day thanking God and others for their acts of kindness.  Few of us realize how many people have contributed to the lives we enjoy, thank them, they deserve it!  It will make their day…..and yours too!

5. To have a few real friends, be a good friend to them.  It is often said that in life we rarely have more than a few truly great friends, many acqaintances, but just a few real friends.  A real friend is a treasure to enjoy.  If you are lucky enough to have one, be a faithful friend to them.

Well, that’s about it for today, I hope these ideas connect with you and that they make your life better, that’s the only reason I do this!

Blessings,

the pilgrim