living well

“God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.” – Voltaire (goodreads.com)

As I grow more “seasoned”,  another side-stepping term for “middle-aged”,  I  am less pensive about things I have not done and places I have not gone.   If the opportunity and means to climb a peak in the Andes or in the Himalayas comes when I am in the next decade of life, it would be an adventure.  But mountain climbing or visiting Jakarta is not going to give me a better life than I have now.   By virtue of several years spent on the sea, I have experienced different cultures and differing views.   But I decided to make the acquaintance of people in those faraway ports.

Romans 12:12 and 2 Corinthians 11 helps me to be joyful in hard times.  The apostle Paul certainly had life experience to instruct others in this.  Living well is a state of mind, in spite of and not because of circumstances.  It is a choice to be joyful whether in plenty or in need.  In health or in illness. My friends and mentors, both the still living and some whom illness robbed us of a living body but not their “life”,  taught me this.