Life does not go by with the graceful, measured steps of a minuet, but rather with the starts, stops and stumbles of toddlers attempting to break-dance. We do not control the circumstances of our birth: our parents and their degree of wealth or poverty.
As we grow older, we attend school, go to work, marry and start families...all with varying levels of success. As we grow closer to the end, we tend to measure the worth of our lives. Some may measure worth by material means...or familial...or spiritual; we grade our success or failure against what we believe measures us as humans. As we age, these measures often change, as do our values. How a person values their life will change during ebbs and flows of everyday life. When our value is high, we are looking to the future with hope; when low, we look to the past with regret.
But between our triumphs and tragedies, it is our hum-drum day to day life creeping by which ultimately defines us.
When young, we have no past so we live in the present and look to the future. When old, we have a tome of personal history filled with regrets, unrequited hopes...and a few shining moments. Our ever-shortening future contains hopes for the well-being and success of our kids and grand-kids...We know we will not live to see much of what we hope for.
But that's the cycle of life...
And that is the value of a life.
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