Farewell is Part of Life

Bidding farewell to the familiar and embracing change is always difficult to some degree, especially later in life once we’ve settled further into our habits and routines. But our golden years often leave us no choice but to adapt, even if we’d rather stay the course. Maybe we have to come to terms with retiring after 50 years, or cope with losing a loved one we’ve known since childhood — either way, when such events happen, the best thing we can do is face them head-on. Knowing that change is inevitable, we’re left with two choices. We can fear it, deny it, and run from it, or we can open our minds to it and grow. If we choose the latter, we may find ourselves surprised at just how much that mindset can enrich our lives. After all, age is just a number, and whether we’re 8 or 80, we can always learn new skills. And of course, change doesn’t necessarily have to be the result of a traumatic event. It can also mean picking up that hobby we’ve always thought about trying or selling our home and living in an RV like we’ve always dreamed about. It boils down to being willing to take that first step and walk forward into the unknown with an optimistic outlook. yeremiah@aol.com Yeremiah Hardt