Life is like …… a SANDWICH??
Sometimes we’re the bread, sometimes we’re the stuff inside.
We go through many phases in our lives. Sometimes we’re the bread… Think of it like a bookend. (Wow — I wonder if the young folks even know what a bookend is. With everything being digital these days, I think it may be safe to say the young’uns don’t have too many hard copy books, let alone a need for a bookend. I hope I’m wrong. Bookends are bad-ass!)
But I digress! Back to the bread and bookend analogy. At times in life, we’re at the beginning or end of a phase. When we’re a toddler, we’re just starting out on life’s adventure. When we are elderly, we’re on the opposite side of the sandwich, the opposite end of the bookshelf. But there are other “bread” phases in life. I was just in one, and am entering into another. I bookended my child-rearing days just in the past couple of years. And boy! Did I go crazy! I had a blast. I don’t think anyone else I know has celebrated the proverbial empty nest like I did. I took up a new hobby: hiking. And I hiked and hiked and hiked, all over parts of the U.S., and even took my new hobby out of the country. My very first venture outside the United States, with the exception of the Bahamas. I took almost 6 weeks and enjoyed solo-trekking across Costa Rica.
And now? I’m in another bread phase. New beginnings. Now that the kids are grown, and I got all the celebration out of my system… (LOL — I love my kids! I just REALLY love my freedom.) Now is the time to see what’s next for me.
Then there are all the in-between phases… the stuff INSIDE the two slices of bread… or the books within the bookends. These are the phases where we are “sandwiched in” between two things. The first one that comes to mind for me are the years between childhood and adulthood: those awkward teen years. We are sandwiched between wanting to be cared for, and wanting our independence. The struggle is real! I remember those days…
Then there’s that little phase where a couple of my kids are in right now…The in-between time period when you are an “official” adult of at least 18, but you’re not old enough to do many of the things some of the people you hang out with are able to do. Well I remember those days as well.
And then there are those years of being sandwiched between taking care of children and/or grand-children, and taking care of aging parents. I’m one of the “lucky” ones. I only have one living parent, and my dad is very self-sufficient and takes very good care of himself. But I see many of my friends struggling with all the responsibility of taking care of multiple generations all at once. I’m not sure how they do it. But I applaud them with all my heart.
No matter where you are in the sandwich or bookshelf of life, my only wish for you is that you EMBRACE life right where you’re at. Acceptance of “WHAT IS” is of penultimate importance. Have no resistance. Just like that old Star Trek saying, “Resistance is futile.” It rings true. Any struggle against what is, is simply wasted energy… like paddling UP-stream in a strong current. It’s exhausting. Just let go, and go with the flow. Take time for yourself to simply BREATHE… even if the only quiet moments you can find for yourself are behind a locked bathroom door.
Embrace the happy moments, and when life is stressful and too busy to even think straight, just ride those waves and remind yourself often… “This, too, shall pass.” Nothing lasts forever. Things change on a dime, all the time. You never know what meandering path life can take you on sometimes. Living in the NOW is all that truly matters. All the rest isn’t real. The past is just an accumulation of memories, and memories are mind projections. Any plans or worries or hopes or dreams you have about the future are also simply mind projections. All we TRULY have is This Now Moment.
Enjoy it to the fullest, no matter what it is. Make the most of it to the best of your ability. And according to the Universal Law of Attraction (energy attracts like energy), the more you focus on the positive aspects of life, the more positive aspects will flow to you. Give it a shot! Gratitude is the secret ingredient to a happy, contented life.
“Quit hanging on to the handrails… Let go. Surrender. Go for the ride of your life. Do it every day.” ~Melody Beattie (American self-help author)
