Knowledge is Power
Knowledge is Power – Autumn is upon us and it is always the time of year that brings me to reflect on the past summer as our travel plans get closer. But this weekend I was thinking about time, I was actually given a senior discount for something I purchased, it is my first senior discount and just the word senior made me think about time and all those who have gone before me.
I was thinking about my grandfather who has passed away now over 30 years ago. How is time for him. I thought about my mother who passed away only 3 years ago and I thought of all the time she spent cooking meals, cleaning house, taking care of family and friends. All that which is just gone now, but for a memory.
As I am approaching my 62 birthday, I thought about the lifetime I have had so far and how I am in a place of peace and happiness that I believe just comes with age. Maybe because I have a better sense of time now, knowing that my time here is very short. When we are young it seems like time will last forever.
As I was contemplating all these things about life, an article appeared before me that I found very relatable. I would like to share a part of it here.
In the year 2123, exactly 100 years from now, we shall all be laid to rest beside our loved ones.
Our homes, which we have fought so hard to create, will be occupied by total strangers, and they will possess all we have right now. Everything we own, even the expensive car we didn’t even buy yet, will eventually be scrapped and sold to a collector nobody has ever heard of.
Our offspring won’t recognise us or remember us for very long. How many of us can name the father of our grandfather?
A few years after our deaths, our history, photographs, and acts will fade into history’s oblivion, at which point we will be remembered only as a portrait on someone’s bookshelf. There won’t be any trace of us left.
Maybe if we took a day to reflect on these issues, we’d see how foolish and feeble the desire to have it all really is.
We would be different people with new perspectives and ways of thinking if only we could give this some serious thought.
The pursuit of more has left us with little time for the things that truly matter. Would people give it all up if it meant getting to experience the walks they never took, the hugs they never gave, the kisses they never got to offer to loved ones, and the jokes we never got to tell. Those would be the best times to reflect on, because they would bring us so much more wealth and happiness.
Knowledge is Power
26 Replies to “Knowledge is Power”
I like this post Sandra … not only for the photos but for your thoughts of your own and those you read and then shared with us. All that makes sense … for me, especially, a person with no family members, some parts of that message have already transpired … photos in an album, photos on the wall or a picture frame is all that is left and the memories that are in your head that you can “review” from time to time like watching those old movies or slideshows from years ago. It is better to stop and do what is meaningful to you now … tomorrow is not promised to any of us. Your flower photos for this post are ethereal looking … I assume you planned it that way, but it fits the post perfectly.
Thank you Linda, yes as I get older my thoughts change on how to live life to the fullest. We just don’t know when we are younger how precious life is and how fast it goes.
Very true Sandra … the older I get the more I realize that fact. When my grandmother passed away in 1980, my mother said she felt very old as the title of matriarch of that family would become her.
Very good, Sandra. Thank you. Blessings
Thank you RJ, I often wonder what time is like for all those who have passed away from the beginning of time. Has it been only minutes for them. Our Father’s world is such a mystery and it just makes me think what they are all doing beyond our knowledge here on earth.
Such a ‘deep share’ thank you so much.
You are very welcome, thank you 😊
Wow! Sometimes it’s hard to think about, but that was amazing, Sandra!
Yes, those thoughts pop into my head now and then as I get older. Just a reminder to us to live in the moment for sure.
I agree!
Deep thoughts Sandra. I often think of my Gram and wonder who will be the last person living that remembers her. I think it will probably be my daughter as they were both very close; having birthdays in the same month and being 87 years apart in age makes for very strong bonds.
Yes, it is strange that all my older relatives are gone now. My nieces and nephews never knew most of my aunt and uncles. Boy did they have the stories to tell also. I miss all those stories. My stories are not as exciting for the younger generation. 😊
You never know. Write them down anyway. We recently found a few pages of my Gram’s stories from when she was a girl on the 1910s. Fascinating stuff and in stark contrast to what 10 year old experience today.
So true.
I can name all of my great-grandparents, just for the record… but seriously, good perspective. I’m a bit younger than you, but also getting older, and I just had a birthday also, so a lot of this has been on my mind lately…
I can go back to great grandparents and most all of my Aunt and Uncles. But they are all gone now, that is why it crosses my mind more now, I am the older relative now. Really puts a perspective on my own life span and how fast time seems to go by.
Yes… all of my great-grandfathers were gone by the time I was born. I knew two of my great-grandmothers, but they passed when I was 8 and 17. I lost my last grandparent (Dad’s father) this last January, and the grandparent I knew best (Mom’s mother) passed in 2021; both were 100 years old at the time of their deaths. My parents are still around in their 70s, but yeah, thinking about how I’m the same age now that my parents were at the time of, say, the events that inspired the stories in my blog is just weird. And as I hear of more people my age becoming grandparents, it makes me wonder if I wasted my life not having children myself (although that wasn’t entirely my choice or my intent for life).
I know what you mean Greg, I never had children myself and often wondered what that might have been like. But I watched my sister raise 3 children and now here children have kids of their own. So I am still enjoying watching the next generation grow up.
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Thank you very much Francine 😊😊
Beautiful reflection! We carry the kindness of others for a lifetime and we hope to pass it along to others. Today your Mom and ancestors were present to me. Thank you, Birthday Girl! You are passing along a very precious kindness.
I so appreciate hearing that Gerry. Thank you very much.
Yes we are in our golden Understanding years Sandra. When we are young we are in our junior Knowledge years where we learn WHAT works then we move into our family raising Wisdom years employing our knowledge to discover HOW it works followed finally by our more mellow senior grandparent wisdom years and know WHY it works.
That is it exactly, amazing how it all works and how these years now become the best years. Thank you.
beautiful contemplation on impermanence
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Thank you very much 🙂