We
shall not cease from exploration
And
the end of all our exploring
Will
be to arrive where we started
And
know the place for the first time.
(T.S.
Eliot, Four Quartets quoted in
The
President's Devotions by Joshua Dubois,
Feb
19).
I'm
not where I need to be,
but
thank God I'm not where I used to be.
I'm
okay, and I'm on my way!
(Power
Thoughts Devotional by Joyce Meyer,
page
50).
The
above quotation from T.S. Eliot seems particularly appropriate now as
I have recently retired. In some ways retirement is like returning to
my youth: a
time during which I did not have to work
to pay light bills and
water bills – those were paid by my parents. Retirement, however,
has an added bonus for unlike in my
youth, I enjoy the full rights and privileges of an adult. This
altogether is
an entire blessing and is
not by any means enjoyed by the bulk of mankind.
Not
only has my situation changed, but I have changed as well. The
stresses of youth to appear acceptable – that is, perfect – have
long since gone
and have been
replaced by acceptance of imperfection. This is a very freeing
realization as
I continue to strive for perfection but realize it is a never-ending
journey. Now the peer
pressure from my fellow senior citizens is
to let go of attempts to appear perfect (lord knows physically that
would be a joke anyway)
and the anxieties
that this despotic
obsession produces.
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