Quiet Time Thoughts

437

Starsky ponders his past over an early morning cup of coffee.

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Sitting on the sun-warmed steps of the beach house he pondered life, love, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It was a do nothing kind of day and he had no problem dealing with that. In fact he realized within the next month he would have all the time in the world to contemplate life and rearrange the universe.

He chuckled at his next thought, “Where had time gone. It was just yesterday that he was young, wasn’t it?”

As he sat sipping his coffee, he let that thought ramble off, having dealt with it before.

The early morning sun felt deliciously warm. Funny, he had never been a morning person before, but of late he enjoyed rising and watching the sun bring on a new day. Sometimes he even walked along the beach greeting the other insomniacs with a smile and occasional conversation.

He seemed to make and keep new friends these days too. Took more time to listen and enjoy the variety of faces. He really welcomed the young people he met. For the most part they were enthusiastic, full of themselves and life. The energy they exhibited rejuvenating him on the bad days.

But the bad days were fewer now too. Amazing what age and maturity could do for one. He could accept what came and no longer beat up on fates unerring ability to screw things up. He had the know-how and tools to deal with most of it with a serenity that continually surprised him.

The people he had known from his young days who had survived with him had changed too although they were often reluctant to admit it.

They would all gather for an evening of beer, pool and talk. Most of their talk was reminiscent, and that bothered him sometimes. It was as if there was nothing more coming, no more life to live, so they lingered in the past glories. But they would eventually come around and resume the planning and exuberance of today and tomorrow.

He liked to think he was just beginning another phase of his life and knew that it was his friends and the young people he met that encouraged him not to give up.

He had lost so much over the years and memory was his only solace sometimes. But it was also his ally, as it allowed him to know and feel what others were experiencing, and he was often able to help.

And helping was his way of life he realized. It had driven all he was and had tried to do. He smiled as he acknowledged that age was no barrier to helping. In fact, it was often what stopped and made people listen to him, as they had been reluctant to do when he was young.

The years, though hard, had been good to him and he spiritually felt he had a good many left in him to live.

Peace had finally come to him, awakening a joy in whom he was and what he had to offer.

So, he had better get off his butt and get on with “the first day of the rest of his life!”