During one of my travels, I chanced upon an Italian proverb, “Siamo vecchie troppo presto, e troppo tarde intellegente”. Loosely translated, it means we get old too soon but smart too late.

I thought of the countless times I had to make decisions – some of them wrong. I recall how uphill some fights had been, the exquisite joy of potential fulfilled, the agonizing frustration over blunders, the sense of loss over ill-timed opportunities and mercifully, the resurgence of hope so that the future could be faced with vigor.

After sometime, my reflection ceased to be that of a young girl, rich with promise but that of a woman whom Life’s misshapen hands have molded. Through the years one is changed by the dynamics of human relationships and destiny. It is my belief that the key to embracing life and love is to give it away as freely as it was received. Each day is a microcosm of our lives, no rewind & no replay. We get reborn and die a little each time – morphing through our incarnations.

Beyond living well, you must never abandon your dreams. That way, when you look at your reflection a little closer you see that behind the wizened woman are the eyes of a young girl, full of hope and with so much to offer the world she set out to discover.

Life has an elusive quality… a constant quest to create meaning from bits and pieces of pain, struggles, joys and triumphs. However it turns out for us, there is no denying that the most humbling of defeats, the ultimate of desires and all in between make us more human. Life is full of passages, twists and turns … YOU can choose to let life unfold and play the game, or you can paint yourself a blank canvass over and over. I have found out that have to love me before I am able to love. I have to grow before I can nurture. I respect and honor endings and changes as much as I welcome and treasure beginnings.