Friday, December 21, 2012

A Life in Review...

We've been here since December 1st and before we know it, it will be time to hit the road again. One of my goals was to do some things that would be part of my retirement ritual (when I do eventually retire) such as writing and working on learning how to play the guitar. I haven't gotten as far with the guitar as I would have hoped to. I'm still trying to work on it. I bought the Chord Buddy (a device that attaches to the neck of the guitar and makes forming the chords easier) and it has helped with learning the chords. I'll keep working at it.

With the end of the year as a time usually set aside as a time for reflection, this project seems sort of appropriate but covers far more than just a year.On the writing front, I am working on something called "The Book of Myself"...a Do It Yourself Autobiography in 201 questions. I started it last year and set it aside. I've been working on that and find myself writing several hours on my free days and I'm half way through. It is a document that will be left to my kids so that they will have an understanding of my upbringing, my thoughts and my life. I've read recently of documents that are becoming popular called "Ethical Wills" and I think this is similar in that it shares your beliefs, ethics and values with your loved ones. For those of you who do not have ethical wills, I would encourage you to create one as your living legacy for your children. Think of your own childhood and how much of a blank slate your parents' own history is to you. We try our best to instill good values in our kids and hope that they become good productive citizens in our world. Wouldn't it be nice to continue that legacy by leaving this document for your kids or grandkids so they might know more about you and what you believed in ? I think it's something that they would truly cherish.

It has been really neat to think about and answer the questions in this book. It has brought back so many memories that were buried way down in my brain. Not bad memories, but ones that make you go hmmmm...and ponder on that memory for a few minutes from your past. Truly a trip down memory lane....

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