Circles...

I've noticed that life, and often events in life, are really circular, or cyclical. In general, we're born, unable to get around on our own, grow into childhood, do fun/dumb things through our teens and early twenties, mature into responsible adults, retire and do fun/dumb things (i.e.- our bucket lists before it's "too late"), slip into our second childhood, and finally are too weak or able to walk...

Another thing I've found that's circular is our good judgement. Our good judgement is what keeps us from making bad decisions, or using poor judgement, and we gain that good judgement through experience. We usually gain experience through choices we've made in our past, usually out of our bad judgement...

My Dad's intelligence has lived a circular life also. When I was young my Dad knew eveything. There was nothing I couldn't get an answer to if I asked. Yet as I grew older my Dad knew less and less, until I realized he knew practically nothing as I reached my late teens and early twenties. I married at 21, and moved away to go to college, determined I would not let myself become dumb like my Dad did. Funny thing though, after moving back, I was 24 or 25 when I realized quite suddenly that my Dad did know things, that he was actually very smart and incredibly long on common sense. How he managed to learn so much in just 3 or 4 years is still a mystery to me..

So many things in life a cyclical, and often, when cycles are bad, we still find it tough to break the cycle. How many times have we heard someone comment, "We didn't learn from our mistakes", or, "History repeats itself"... It takes extrordinary action to break a cycle, and far too often we find it's easier to take the easy road. I guess, all things considered, we shouldn't be surprised when we find ourselves right back where we started... Food for thought...