Are we Living or just Existing???

Ladies, as we navigate through this thing we call life, let us just take a second to close our eyes and just imagine as if we were looking in retrospect back at our lives.... and what is it do we see? Life and a lifetime as we grow older seem to go by quicker than ever. For me, it seems like I was just in my early 30s, a young mother, raising a young daughter trying to make it happen for us. Many years of working, working and more working, never could I even imagine getting to this point in life. It just seemed so far off. Well, here I am..... I made it to retirement. I am so glad, however that I did make a conscious effort to take an occasional trip with girlfriends. Those precious memories are forever etched in my head to look back on. Back then my girlfriends and I took what we called a "Waiting To Exhale Cruise", we were young divorced mothers. None of us had remarried..... and we were still in the mist of raising our kids. However, we took time out for ourselves. Our money wasn't over flowing..... but we planned it out far in advance, and saved so that we could make those vacays happen. Looking back, that seemed like only yesterday.

Well, as we all know, father time waits for no one, and as I journey through life, I don't want to just exist.... I choose to LIVE! As we know also, our bodies are just not the same...the aches and pains ......however, we still have to push through. I still want to have experiences and live life to it's fullest. As for me, after remarrying, my late husband and I went to Las Vegas a few times and also on several Cruises...... so he and I did enjoy some years of traveling together before his health began to decline. Even when his health began failing, I still continued to travel with girlfriends occasionally...... and he encouraged me to do so. Love him for that! He was very unselfish in that regard because he knew that I loved doing these things. I've been seeing stories about women solo traveling..... and yes you guys at our age and beyond! I have a daughter that has been doing solo traveling for years and she says that it's a very freeing experience. However admittedly, I just haven't gotten to that point yet...... but nothing seems to stop this younger generation of women from having their experiences. They are saying ...... that they are not waiting on anybody to go with them, and certainly not waiting to retire. Finances may stop some folks, but if you plan...... and save, it certainly can be done. There are Travel Groups now that you can go and meet up and connect with groups of similar interests. Personally, I am so very glad that I didn't wait until my husband and I had retired, because as we all know there are no guarantees in life. He is gone, but I still have those precious memories forever etched in my head. How many of us retire and just a few short years later or less end up dying. We must take the necessary steps to live life ..... and not just exist. We want to be able to say......life doesn't owe me a thing! It was a life well lived...... and again it's NEVER EVER to late to start!!

If traveling is not your thing..... that's ok, there are just so many other ways to enjoy life. Going to concerts, plays, museums, sporting events, parks, etc. So my question is what are you waiting for? It doesn't cost anything if you're a local New Orleanian to just stroll through City Park's Botanical Gardens on a Wednesday afternoon, all you need is your State ID/Driver's License , it's free admission on Wednesdays only....... and you can walk through the gardens and smell and see the beautiful flowers and also can experience the Rain Forest and Butterfly Exhibits, etc. I'm pretty sure other cities offers the same thing. It's certainly not ever too late as Seniors to enjoy the fruits of our many years of labor as we should at this stage of our lives. We definitely deserve it! We must take care of ourselves, physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally...... so my question is again....ARE YOU LIVING OR ARE YOU JUST EXISTING??

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR ??