I own a special clock. It was built in 1884 which make it 125 years old. It was originally purchased by my great grandfather and has been passed down in our family. A few years after my father passed away, my mother gave it to me, just before she died.
This clock had been experiencing some problems. The robust gong that celebrates the top of each hour was getting slowly out of whack with the actual time. And then the clock began to grind to a halt more and more frequently.
I found a terrific local clock smith and he replaced a couple of gears, gave the old clock a tune up and it is once again back on our fireplace mantle, in a place of honor, keeping perfect time.
This clock serves as a reminder of the people who came before me. They led robust lives, with joys, sorrows, successes and disappointments and were gone before I was born. My first memory of my late grandparents is that of a couple of slow moving old people and I tend to forget that they were young once.
They grew from children to strapping teens and into adulthood, where they found love and decades of happiness with each other and had children. And those children in turn grew, married and gave birth to me and my sister. And they have since all passed on, as I will someday.
As I get older, I seem to gravitate more towards historical and biographical books. I think I do this in order to gain a better understanding of those generations who preceded me. I want to know more about the legions of people who came before me.
This is in stark contrast to the person I was in my teens and twenties. That person was convinced that he was invincible and the center of the universe. He was sure that the old fogies around him understood nothing and were often just taking up space. He was convinced he was different and special.
Now I tend to view life as a series of conveyor belts. Each of us is on his/her own belt and that belt is traveling at a speed separate from the rest. Many belts are moving along very speedily and we see the riders whisking by us and rapidly falling off the end. Other belts are moving along slowly but steadily and as we get older the belt’s end becomes more and more visible and closer and closer.
I hope my historical and biographical readings help me develop a better appreciation for others, both those who came before and those yet to be born. Self centeredness is not an appealing, positive attribute and the better I can love and appreciate others, the happier I am. And I am a better human for it.
Thank you for reading.
This clock had been experiencing some problems. The robust gong that celebrates the top of each hour was getting slowly out of whack with the actual time. And then the clock began to grind to a halt more and more frequently.
I found a terrific local clock smith and he replaced a couple of gears, gave the old clock a tune up and it is once again back on our fireplace mantle, in a place of honor, keeping perfect time.
This clock serves as a reminder of the people who came before me. They led robust lives, with joys, sorrows, successes and disappointments and were gone before I was born. My first memory of my late grandparents is that of a couple of slow moving old people and I tend to forget that they were young once.
They grew from children to strapping teens and into adulthood, where they found love and decades of happiness with each other and had children. And those children in turn grew, married and gave birth to me and my sister. And they have since all passed on, as I will someday.
As I get older, I seem to gravitate more towards historical and biographical books. I think I do this in order to gain a better understanding of those generations who preceded me. I want to know more about the legions of people who came before me.
This is in stark contrast to the person I was in my teens and twenties. That person was convinced that he was invincible and the center of the universe. He was sure that the old fogies around him understood nothing and were often just taking up space. He was convinced he was different and special.
Now I tend to view life as a series of conveyor belts. Each of us is on his/her own belt and that belt is traveling at a speed separate from the rest. Many belts are moving along very speedily and we see the riders whisking by us and rapidly falling off the end. Other belts are moving along slowly but steadily and as we get older the belt’s end becomes more and more visible and closer and closer.
I hope my historical and biographical readings help me develop a better appreciation for others, both those who came before and those yet to be born. Self centeredness is not an appealing, positive attribute and the better I can love and appreciate others, the happier I am. And I am a better human for it.
Thank you for reading.