Birthday Reflection

Time marches on and today I am another year older. My family took me out for a great dinner and I had a wonderful time. It seems that time spins faster the older I get, giving merit to the saying, “Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer you get to the end, the faster it goes.” Don’t misconstrue that as a whine as that is not the tone intended; but my perception is changed as time passes and it seems to currently step in double-time.

As I reflect over the last year, I see so many things I should have done that I did not. There are no excuses, only reasons, and my number one would be apathy. At 33 there is so much I should know that I do not, so much I should have done and have not. ‘A work in progress’ will be the label I wear until I breathe my last. But that is life, no? As long as we continue to strive to better ourselves, as long as we stay in the fight, we live. It reminds me of a quote my Dad once printed out for me to read, with hopes that I would take it to heart. I was young and did not understand the wisdom of the words, but as I became older I realized it to be a most noble goal to aim toward and the only way to be truly alive. Thanks, Dad.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” - Theodore Roosevelt

In reflection I also grasp how truly blessed I have been. I could not have hoped for a better family than the one Divine Providence has given me.

I am proud to be able to call myself an American and live in the greatest country on earth. With all her faults and troubles, there is still no better place to be.


Happy birthday to all of you who were born today and may you have many more. May your next birthday’s contemplations bring to mind your great accomplishments and the resolve to overcome your bitter defeats.