This time of year.

This time of year...

Each year, as winter approaches and the cold starts to settle in, I can’t help but reflect.  Perhaps persuade by the impending months of cold isolation, or maybe for reasons all my own, my thought often turn to sadness; the people I’ve lost and people the world has lost. I try to take comfort in the joyful memories these people brought to those who knew them.

Death, of course, is the ultimate ‘loss’ of which I speak. I can’t begin to explain the pain and emptiness in the heart. I can only hope that no one else knows this same feeling, but the truth is that we will all lose someone. No longer being able to hug or kiss or talk to that special person ever again; it’s devastating. Although the pain may fade over time, the emptiness left behind, will never really go away.  They will live on every time we are reminded… an uncle, spouse, friend, child, beloved pet…

There are other losses, too.

There are the people who have touched our lives in some other way; the singers, actors, celebrity, sports figures and other ‘famous’ folks. Though we may have never met them in person, we feel a connection to them through their work. They shared a little bit of themselves with so many. The joys they brought to the world may live on, but the loss of these talented people touch all who enjoyed their contributions.

But death isn’t the only loss.

I look back at the friends and colleagues with whom I’ve lost touch. Don’t get me wrong, there are some that I’m happy to have out of my life, but not all, not by a long shot.  I often wonder how they’re doing, how their family is doing, if they are still with the same person with whom they were so much in love. I hope they're doing well and living a good life and I wish them all the best. The loss I feel for these folks is more subtle, but still real.

The sense of loss, it seems, can exist for not just people. Whenever I am reminded of a fond memory of a simpler time from my childhood or even from a few years ago; when I see the change of a familiar landmark into a sparkling new shopping center. The loss of the things that have always been there, but are no longer. The unrelenting rumble of change, to modernize, update and revise can be very unsettling, and often leave a void and longing for times gone by. Change, though not always, can be good, but is usually unsettling.

The things we’ve done, the places we’ve been and the people we knew from yesteryear, will live on in pictures and notes and memories. 

The future is as bright as we want it to be, as we want to make it.

Right now, the things we do and say, the people in our lives today; it’s up to us to make the most of it. Tell that person you love them. Shave a smile with a passer-by. Greet each new day and place and event with joy in your heart and kindness in your eyes. The lives we touch and the emotions we generate and share make for a much more rewarding here-and-now and will only enrich the memories we will look back on from tomorrow.

To all in my life; thank you for all that you are to me; near and far, friends and family. Thanks for the memories, the happiness and the prospect of many more wonderful adventures together.

Love and peace to each and every one of you.

Cheers.



...do the best you can, make the best of each moment, and make it count:

Source: candidmyst.tumblr.com