Today is the last day of summer for two of my children. While the calender does not reflect the fact, tomorrow is their first day of school for this year. This day has always been for children, the official end of the season of fun. While the weather won't change, life and routine will. As a child the days seemed to pass much slower than they do now. In a science class I took as an undergraduate the professor explained the biological reason for our change in the perception of the passage of time. It made sense and seems to hold true. However, time stills seems to pass more slowly during hard times. Our focus on the negative has a way of slowing things down.

    I am trying my best to stay in the present. I have become adroit at looking at the past in a positive light. My ability to see the past as not real and realize it was just a means of traveling to today has improved my disposition. The past does not exist. Things you may have done, or things that happened cannot be changed, or undone. We must learn to think about the past like this. We must learn to have an outlook that allows us to mover in the now and not be tied to our past. Anything we did, or anything others did that had an affect on us remains locked inexorably in the ethereal world of what was and not what is.

   In the same way that we must learn not to dwell in the past we must also be wary of being locked in stasis with regards to the future. Waiting around for what may come, or what we hope may happen steals the now that we have. We must also learn to be prepared for the future. One of the best ways I have found to do this is to is of course letting go of the past, but to also be happy with the present. Sounds difficult and sometimes it may be almost impossible. Being in severe emotional, or physical pain causes us to long for the quick passage of time because we know that relief comes with the movement of time.

  The past is gone. We can learn from it, we can look back on it with longing and a sense of loss, or we can just let it go and realize it no longer exists. Does that mean we must not hold on to any memories of it whether good or bad? Of course not! If that were true then the camera business would go belly up. What I am trying to say is let it go in the sense that we think we can, or must do something about it. Learn from it, hold and cherish the memories as treasures and life lessons, but without regret. Put that lopsided rueful grin on your face, shake your head at your foibles and walk in today. Something that to us as humans seems counter-intuitive, but trust me, you will be better for it. I know I am going to embrace today as the gift that it is...a new beginning as I start over, over 50.