Reflections from the Fourth Quarter: Embracing Life’s Final Season

Editor's Note: This article beautifully captures the essence of growing older with grace, wisdom, and humor. It reflects on the fleeting nature of time, the inevitability of aging, and the joys and challenges of life's later years. With gentle advice and heartfelt reflections, it inspires readers to live fully, appreciate the present, and cherish the relationships and memories that define their journey.

WHEN YOUTH THE DREAM DEPARTS IT TAKES SOMETHING FROM OUR HEARTS AND NEVER COMES AGAIN

IT'S NOT WHAT YOU GATHER BUT WHAT YOU SCATTER THAT TELLS WHAT KIND OF LIFE YOU HAVE LIVED.

29th November 2024

Contributed by WB James Valentine

Most of us are now in the last quarter of our lives and should read this interesting piece of advice.

We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths;

In feelings, not in figures on a dial.

We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives

Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best.

And he whose heart beats quickest lives the longest:

Lives in one hour more than in years do some

Whose fat blood sleeps as it slips along their veins.

Life's but a means unto an end; that end,

Beginning, mean, and end to all things—God.

The dead have all the glory of the world.

- Philip James Bailey

This is one of the nicest and most gentle articles I’ve ever read: NO politics, NO religion, and NO racial issues - just food for thought.

You know, time has a way of moving quickly and catching you unaware of the passing years.

It seems just yesterday that I was young and embarking on my new life. Yet, in a way, it seems like years ago, and I wonder where all the years went.

I know that I lived them all.

I have glimpses of how it was back then and of all my hopes and dreams.

However, here it is, the last quarter of my life, and it catches me by surprise !!!

How did I get here so fast ??  Where did the years go, and where did my youth go??

I remember well, seeing older people through the years and thinking that those older people were years away from me that I was only in the first quarter, and that the fourth quarter was so far off that I could not visualize it or imagine fully what it would be like.

 Yet, here it is !!! My friends are retired and getting grey, they move slower, and I see myself that older person now.  Some are in better and some worse shape than me, but I see the great change. They’re not like the ones that I remember who were young and vibrant. But, like me, their age is beginning to show and we are now those older folks that we used to see and never thought we'd become.

Each day now, I find that just getting a shower is a real target for the day, and taking a nap is not a treat anymore !!! It's mandatory because if I don't of my own free will, I fall asleep where I sit.

And so, now I enter into this new season of my life unprepared for all the aches and pains and the loss of strength and ability to go and do things that I wish I had done but never did. At least now I know that, though I’m on the last quarter and I'm not sure how long it will last, that when it's over on this earth, it's all over. A new adventure will begin, I feel !!!

Yes, I have regrets.  There are things I wish I hadn't done; things I should have done, but truly there are many things I'm happy to have done.  It's all in a lifetime.

So, if you're not in the last quarter yet, let me remind you that it will be here faster than you think. So, whatever you would like to accomplish in your life do it quickly.

Don't put things off too long. Life goes by so quickly.

So, do what you can today, as you can never be sure whether you're in the last quarter or not.

You have no promise that you will see all the seasons of life. So, live for today and say all the things that you want your loved ones to remember - and hope that they appreciate and love you for all the things that you have done for them in all the past years.

’ Life’ is a gift to you.  BE HAPPY!!!

Have a great day!!!

Remember, it is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold, silver printed notes, or even property.

You may think:

Going out is good - but coming back home is much better!!!

You forget names - but it's okay because some people forget they even know you!!!

You realize you are never going to be good at anything like golf - but you like the outdoors. So, do it.  

The things you used to care to do, you aren't as interested in anymore - but, you don't care that you aren't as interested.

You sleep better on a lounge chair with the TV on than in bed – you call it ’ pre-sleep!!! If you enjoy it, just do it.

You miss the days when everything worked with just an ’ ON’ and ’ OFF’ switch !!!

You tend to use more than 4 letter words – ’ what’ and ’ when’.

You have lots of clothes in your wardrobe, more than half of which you will never wear – but just in case !!

Old is good -

• Old is comfortable.

• Old is safe.

• Old songs.

• Old movies.

• and - best of all,

• Friends of old !!!

So, stay well, ‘Old friend.’

Have a fantastic day.

Have an awesome QUARTER, whichever one you’re in !!!

Take care.

Send this on to other "Old Friends" and let them smile in agreement.