Tick – tock, tick – tock —  entering the door marked 2014. For me, this is also the door into life’s last season. Of course, these seasons have no official dates and actual doors, but the number 60 rings of older age to anyone looking up to it.

I remember when my dad was in his 70s, doing yard work and handy man jobs for a lady in her 90s. She called him “young man,” which pleased him very much. However, he was retired, receiving social security and taking two naps a day! He was in his golden years. His golden years were pretty golden, largely because he was a positive person, expecting good things. I remember Dad saying not long before he died (at nearly age 86), “I’m just a happy boy!”  Why was he a happy boy? Was it easy to be happy?  Why do I have to work so hard at it? Why do I and others feel a sense of disorientation or disequilibrium? Continue reading →