Stages of Life

Someone once said that "time is the fire in which we burn". The days do take their toll. In a wink we go through the days and weeks and years. Then we stop and ask "where did the years go"?

When we were fresh and young the days seemed to last much longer. Every thing we saw and did was a new adventure. We were playing, learning and growing. Then as time goes by we begin to understand a little more about the world into which we were born. Play gives way to life's responsibilities and we often lose sight of the wonders we used to know when we were young.

Sometimes we can laugh and often we must cry as we wend our way down the road of life. Eventually we will reach the end of our days on earth. Did our lives make the world any better or any worse? In the end that is the only thing that matters.

The Voyage of Life:

The artist Thomas Cole's interpretations of life' stages are a favorite of mine. Each one of us fits in there somewhere. (To see enlarged versions click on the thumbnail images.)

Childhood: that magical time when everything is new and exciting. Can you remember when you were a child and every day was a new adventure?

Youth: the time when we start out to follow our dreams. Everything seems possible and the skies the limit. We say goodbye to childhood and begin our quest.

Manhood: (i.e. adulthood) the time when our dreams meet reality head on. Hopes often collide with despair and our fate sometimes seem unsure.

Old Age: when our bodies begin to fail and the time ahead is measured by what has gone before. Here is where our quest ends and we return to the place from which we came.