Ethyl Says: Life's Reflections

I posted a picture on facebook today of my nieces when they were little girls, and I couldn't help but reflect on life and the years that have come and gone.  On thing about it, time as we know it only moves in one direction, and that is forward.  The youthful innocent has been replaced by adulthood and a coming to grips with reality, and I have been left to ponder how often the dreams of childhood are left in the dust behind us.
In a way it's a sad thing when the simplicity of youth and childhood gives way to the complexities of grown up life.  To the realizing that happy ever after does not exist. That the most we can hope for is a measure of happiness and compatibility with the person we have chosen to spend our lives with.   That we will face responsibilities and failures and tears and pain and in some cases, the deaths of those we love.  That we will have to work when we don't feel like it, that we will have to care for our children and nurture them when all we really want is to still be nurtured ourselves.  That marriages we entered into so hopefully, sometimes despite our best efforts, simply will not last.  They will come to an end because of infidelities or bad financial decisions or simply the fact we can't go on like before.  Or perhaps if the marriage itself endures, we may have to deal with the sickness or emotional distress of a beloved mate, and feel the total helplessness of being able to do absolutely nothing to relieve the distress.  And if the marriage should be blessed with children, and we are given to privilege of watching them grow to adulthood, we are going to have to watch as the same trauma happens to them.  When they suffer divorce or emotional disaster, it will be the same as if it were happening to us.  Becoming a mother is the single most important decision you will ever make in your life, because it means for the rest of your life you will walk around with your heart outside your body.  The umbilical cord is the longest cord in the world.  It stretches forever.
That having been said, none of us would wish to remain children forever.  There is so much pleasure in experiencing and seeing and feeling and doing that to miss out on that would be the greatest loss.  To move forward in life, even if sometimes we do it painfully and without really wanting to, is a great treasure.  To travel and be able to say, 'hey, I've seen that.  I've been there and done that', is wonderful.  To not just dream about but to actually do some of the things you've dreamed about.  To be able to see the expressions on the faces change from youthful innocence to grownup knowing is mind boggling.  And to grow stronger from the disappointments and failures we experience, for by so doing we learn they are not the end of the world, nor do they define who we are.  That we can bear up and endure and in the end experience that mingling of pain and pleasure somewhere deep inside ourselves that will truly define us.  And in the end to become  much better persons than we ever thought we could be.  To feel for others, to have deep faith, to sincerely wish the best for those we love without any hint of jealousy, to know in our minds how it feels to be tired or disappointed or hurt or sad beyond words.  And to also know that we will weather this storm and any others that may blow our way.  If life has taught me anything it is that you simply can not get from ten to forty any other way but to live it.  And if we are wise, we will live it with the idea in mind that despite all the heartaches and setbacks, we are going to suck as much pleasure from simply being alive as humanely possible.