Tuesday, August 13, 2019

"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today."

My life has so drastically -- and wonderfully -- changed in the past 10 years. Ten years ago I was experiencing yet another adventure run, that one being 500 miles through Alaska (where I grew up). I had close encounters with moose and caribou, and even had an opportunity to be a guest speaker at the elementary school I attended in the mid-1970s. The "2009" photo accompanying this writing shows me standing on top of my support stroller in Denali National Park. The Alaska endeavor was just one of many where I would log hundreds of miles alone, pounding my body into the ground. In a way, it was therapeutic for what I was dealing with in my life at the time. Eventually, I would cross a few finish lines in my life. However, there were new starting lines waiting for me.

Prior to that 2009 run, I had lived for 25 years in Montana... most of that time spent working and raising a family. Five years ago I relocated to Indiana and met the woman who would capture my heart completely. Kelley and I were married last year and have enjoyed setting up our home together, along with her two youngest children (ages 11 and 14). I don't feel the need to run at extreme levels anymore and I officially retired from it a few years ago. Life is good. The support stroller I ran thousands of miles with is stored away in the attic; I work my job at a successful law firm; attend Mass weekly with my lovely wife; and, enjoy experiencing life with Kelley by my side -- feeling blessed each and every day. I'm a Dad and Step-Dad; play my guitars; do projects around the house; and, enjoy a generally stress-free existence. Sure, I traded the mountains of Montana for the farm fields of Indiana -- but I also found where I'm supposed to be, and there's a deep peace with that.

Yes, life at 54 is wonderful. Now, I actually look forward more than back -- I live in the now rather than in the what was. I'll never be able to change the past, but I can impact today and the future. I'm a constant work in progress as a human being and will be until I'm pushing up daisies someday. To all of you who have stood by me as I've worked through and have been weathered by this process we call life, I say thank you. To those who haven't, I pray that your life will bring you opportunities to better appreciate, empathize with, and to not judge the trials, tribulations and triumphs of others.

I believe that Mother Teresa's words are so true: "Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin."

Indeed, let us begin!

From Him, Through Him, For Him (Romans 11:36),

Paul J. Staso
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Visit my YouTube channel -- https://www.youtube.com/user/pacetrek

Click on any of the links below to see some of my adventure photos:
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