As the year draws to an end it’s usually a time for reflection as well as planning for the future. Some time ago a friend reminded me of a quotation by Kierkegaard – ‘Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.’ Looking back over the past year and things that have happened, we might begin to understand why certain things had to happen although at the time it didn’t seem obvious. There are certainly times when we feel that we don’t have complete control over our lives and wonder more than once how we came to do something or go somewhwere.
A wise old friend once told me that we should accept the hard times when life doesn’t seem to be going smoothly because those are the times when we grow, when we learn and develop. That comes back to Nietzsche and ‘amor fati‘ – that I referred to in an earlier post.
I was reading Steven Gambardella’s blog Lessons from History earlier today and he wrote -Nietzsche compels us to find the courage to listen. If we can find the strength to find a “why” to live, we can bear almost any “how”.
In spite of the colder weather, now is a good time to get out into the hills, forests or down by the coast to look around and let our minds soak up the beauty and get things in perspective.
A Sense of Being
A sense of oneness,
after a search for meaning.
A sense of fullness,
when the mind is empty.
A sense of being,
when time stands still.
Life's a Beach 