From The Daily Dialogue
From The Daily Dialogue
Broadcast of 9/9/98
Subject: [DailyDialogue #251] Midlife
"Nel mezzo del cammin di mostra vita mi retrovai per una selva oscura, che la diretta via era smarrita" - Dante's "Inferno"
The beginning of "Inferno" is translated "In the middle of my life's journey, I found myself in an obscure wood, having lost my way." As I celebrate my forty-eighth birthday today, I am aware of the aging process. I look at where I have come so far in my life and I ask, how has my life made a difference in the world? What will I leave behind?
Today as I saw Anton Chekhov's play "Uncle Vanya" with my seventy- three year old father who shares my same birthdate, I was struck with his exuberance for life. I am so thankful that his attitude about life is different than "Uncle Vanya" who sees little hope for the future. My father is a good model for having pursued his aspirations, making a difference in the lives of others.
He and I agreed that the play's inference of paradise being in the hereafter did not fit with our belief that we create our own heaven and hell here on earth. We can choose to come through the woods, or the hell of the inferno. As the director of "Uncle Vanya" said, we can live "every day with humor and with patience and recognize and forgive the fallibility and utter humanity of (our) own nature and of those around (us)."
Experiment: Dialogue with your father about the meaning of your lives.
Affirmation: I see hope for my future as I live each day fully with humor, patience and forgiveness.
The Daily Dialogue is published each day of 1998 by e-mail. Copyright 1998, Eddy Brame and Marty Crouch, All rights reserved.
