Such is Life
I cannot believe there are only thirty-five days left before we begin another year! Something is amiss because hours seem to disappear with the snap of my fingers. And there are not enough minutes to complete the New Year resolutions I made more than ten and a half months ago.
Just kidding — I did not make any resolutions. My life would be much busier, even more gratifying, if I had more initiative and determination. As it is, I suspect that if I had made new goals, then towards the end of November, I would be thinking along these lines…
In high school, I learned to sing “Yesterday” in Spanish. In college, I read Don Quixote. Yet here I am after all these years disparaging myself porque todavía hablo poco español.
Oh well, such is life. I have countless words to sing and say in English.
Hillside Echoes was my high school newspaper, and I was a regular columnist. Creative Writing was my favorite college course because I enjoyed composing poetry, short stories, and plays. Unfortunately, completing a novel has continued to elude me.
Oh well, such is life. Writing for myself is a fulfilling hobby.
When I was young, I took piano lessons, then quit within six months. As a college student, I strummed guitar in a Eucharistic choir where I could mask my imperfections behind skilled musicians. I never mastered the instrument but always wished I could fiddle, though not badly enough to bow to discipline.
Oh well, such is life. My vocal cords still work well.
Once in my teenage years, I bought myself a fridge magnet that pictured a cute pink pig and blared the words, “Eat Eat Eat, Fat Fat Fat.” During my child-bearing years, I only managed to lose weight each time I gave birth. Diets are not my friend, although I have discovered I like to exercise even if I cannot get rid of those extra ten pounds.
Oh well, such is life. I am okay being a foodie.
In middle school, I participated in basketball, track, and softball teams, each having a “no-cut” policy, as did the lady softball team I joined and traveled with in college. As an adult, chasing toddlers kept me in shape, and then I advanced to exercise videos and jogging. Sore knees plague me now, and there is only me and my stationary bike, with no hope of ever competing in a marathon.
Oh well, such is life. There’s yoga and chair yoga.
Dances from the seventies caught me grooving the BUMP and YMCA. Ever since Kenny & Dolly: A Christmas to Remember appeared on television in 1984, my favorite has and always will be the one my husband and I slow dance to when we hear “The Greatest Gift of All” from the musical tract of that special. Nevertheless, it would be nice to step Irish tunes or to interest my guy in ballroom dancing.
Oh well, such is life. Moving rhythmically to praise music is soul-filling.
Luckily, I can sing and write in English as often as I like and eat, exercise, and dance whenever the mood moves me. Any resolutions I opt for at the end of this year may or may not happen. Whatever the circumstances, I will toss tinsel, sing “Auld Lang Syne” and thank the Good Lord for all my days, past, present, and future.
Such is life. And I love it!
“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God.”
1Thessalonians 5:18