Relishing Your Life

Sunday was my niece’s 16th birthday party. It was an outdoor celebration and the weather was perfect. We couldn’t ask for a better day, better company or better food. But it started me thinking about being 16. About how life is so different now than when I turned 16, many years ago (okay, not so many…but long enough ;)

I began to wonder if the problems facing the young men and women today are different or even harder than when I was a teenager. Life is faster. Cell phones and texting are the order of the day, causing more than one teenager to be distracted while driving. And there is a different expectation of the kids today.

But looking at my beautiful niece and her friends, I also saw the same excitement about life that I had. The same knowledge that you could do anything, be anything you wanted to be. And as I pondered this, I realized that feeling never totally goes away. I was in my thirties before I decided I wanted to write a novel. I wanted to finally realize my dream of writing.

I knew that I could do anything, be anything I wanted to be. Sure, it was different. I had a lot more responsibilities. I wasn’t able to work on my writing craft full time. But the passion was still there. The knowledge that you can go far if you put your mind, and most of all your heart, into it.

Maybe in some ways we don’t change. Maybe the core of us stays the same. If I close my eyes, I can still imagine I am a teenager with my whole life ahead. I can still see myself I my mind’s eye as a young, vibrant girl. Yet, I am happy where I am now. Nearly forty, about to be a mom and with the greatest job in the world—writing.

No, I don’t long for youth. Let my niece relish this time in her life, and I will relish mine.

Hugs,

Renee

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