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Journalism of Courage
Life is not a smooth passage from one phase to another, or from one age group to another. The relationships we enter into also do not all last forever. Rather, as we grow and evolve, we leave behind broken ties, unrenewed friendships that no longer have any meaning for us and those that fell by the wayside.
Could it be that life is not meant to have a smooth continuity? That there are breaks and disruptions of what would seem a continuously flowing stream? Have we not all experienced that in growing from childhood to adolescence and from adolescence to adulthood, what seemed of prime importance to us takes on quite another significance as we make these transitions in life?
Relationships which seemed primary can fade away. The closeness and bondedness of certain ties may seem to be a far away reality of another phase and time. What was once intimacy may change to distant coldness.
The same applies to our physical, mental, psychological and emotional growth. We pass from stages of dependency toindependence, from leaning on and finding security in our parents to standing on our own feet and from states of emotional dependence to more integration within ourselves, so that we can stand the shocks of life.
Life8217;s passages also mean that the goals we cherish at one stage of our life may be transformed in another stage. Thus, while a career and marriage may seem the main goals we want to reach in early adulthood, these goals may change to raising a family and balancing our work life with home life in one8217;s thirties, to trying to attain a better financial position in one8217;s forties, and acceptance of a less demanding and maybe less attractive financial position in ones sixties. And so on.
Passages also mean that we may evolve from being persons on the lookout for fun to becoming acutely aware of spirituality. Those who had a carefree outlook on life may face setbacks which make them more responsible and human. They may evolve from persons who are after the superficial to those who begin to look for adeeper meaning in life and relationships.
The quest for God and religion is also often a passage from a ritualistic approach to a more personal approach. One8217;s prayer life may change from a recitation of familiar and home taught prayers to a deeper relationship and a centering of oneself in prayer. We may move from reciting traditional prayers to meditating on deeper realities and focusing on the invisible.
Religion and faith can be a passage from blind acceptance to questioning and searching and finally arriving at an acceptance of the circumstances that come our way. We can start by expecting only good to come our way to a slow acceptance of sorrow and tragedy, to an acceptance of setbacks and harsh times, and see them all with the inner eyes of faith.
Life is a series of passages from fragmentation to integration, from inner and external conflict to resolution and from dividedness and separation to a higher unity. In life, it is true we often do not experience the harmony and fullness of unity thatwe all aspire to in the higher reaches of our soul. Even the passing from the lower reaches of selfishness to the higher states of selflessness and reaching out to others is a passage that we have to make in life.
In the final analysis, we all also have to make the passage from life to death and from death to a new life. That is a passage that everyone makes. That is the most final of passages, a transition from one state of life to another.
Life8217;s journey as seen from the beginning stretches out to a limitless future, as seen from mid-life is strewn with breaks and disruptions and as seen from the end can be a limited and time-barred existence where the end may take us by surprise, or else may be a finale to a life spent in a search of meaning.
