Not Too Late~

“If I had only…
Forgotten future greatness
And looked at the green things and the buildings
And reached out to those around me
And smelled the air
And ignored the forms and the self-styled obligations
And heard the rain on the roof
And put my arms around my wife
…and it’s not too late.”
-Hugh Prather

I like thoughtful books; books of ideology and self help theories and different ways of looking at things. I rarely agree with everything that is written, but I frequently find quotes or different passages that make me think a bit differently or appreciate another view, even if it isn’t the same as mine. I found the above passage in a book that I bought at this little monastery outside of Aspen, CO. On a side note, the monastery was amazing. It was maybe one of the most peaceful places I have ever been…sitting in this valley, ringed by mountains. Gorgeous.

I love many things about this quote. I love that it is a prettier, clever way of basically saying to stop and smell the roses. I love that there is a line about reaching out to people around us. I love that it thumbs its nose at future legacies and social rules and all the other responsibilities that we, as humans, drape ourselves in every day. I love that it cuts through all of that and then ends with the phrase “…and it’s not too late.” It ends hopeful.

Two years ago I made fairly major changes in my life. More accurately, I started big major changes in my life and over the last two years I have fine tuned and grown them, building a kind of life that I think is more suited to me than the one I previously inhabited. I was fresh on the heels of serious mistakes, serious failures – in my personal life, my career, my faith life. I was doing an awful job of managing all of my priorities and being everything to everyone. Even though I had the best intentions, I was letting my life run me instead of the other way around. Now that I have most things, not everything but most, in the right place and my life simplified to the things that are truly important to me…I am a herald of the idea of starting fresh because I truly believe that it is never too late to make your life what you want it to be.