A Lifetime Of Changes

 

There comes a time when a person has to accept the reality of their life. Some goals you had planned are never happening. As I think back on my own life I remember goals or dreams I had at one age and then changed them at another age. They were not in line with what I was doing at that time. You are not a failure if you failed to attain that goal. A goal you may have had as a teenager might be something you can never even try to do as you got older. The influences of television, magazines or books sometimes will cause you to have a dream that is not ever going to happen for you. 

Parents may influence you as well as your siblings or friends. What they might want for you might not be anything you want to do but accept it and try. Failing at whatever it was will affect you and the way you think about yourself. It was not right for you to begin with. Aging gives you another outlook on your life. Doing something one way for a number of years and then suddenly you want to change it. People around you may not encourage you or some might. It is up to you in the end. What do you want to do in your life? It is your life. It is your journey. 

I have made many changes throughout my life. Different ages meant different things were happening to me and around me. A lifetime of changes is inevitable. What I was doing at twenty was completely different at forty. I look back at those years and wonder what was I thinking back then? Today I feel they were bad or wrong choices. Maybe though, they were just different and the outcome was not what I wanted or needed. At age fifty I dealt with changes that were the most difficult of my whole life. Yes, even now and the changes that have happened to me at ages sixty and seventy-three were not as difficult as fifty was.

2002 was the year I turned fifty. Along with that came the accident that almost killed my husband. Having to have one of my Parathyroids removed (not that big of deal). My mother's health became much worse and she died later that year. I was also in the process of menopause. It was a very stressful time and I don't know how I got through it. I was living on my Peaceful Forest Homestead at the time and it was a lot of work. I made it through it in one piece. By the time I left there in 2018 my life had taken many changes and continues to this day. 

Now I feel most of the changes in my life have to do with my health. I have had to change the way I do things due to mobility issues. Due to my knees and to Lymphedema and how they affect me. I will go more into those issues in a future post. My whole life I had a car of my own and once I gave that up I felt like I lost my independence. When I moved here to my apartment I chose not to buy a vehicle due to all the expenses associated with it. It was the right choice for me but it is also a burden for finding rides to appointments. I am finding my way through it and doing what I must. A lifetime of changes never ends. I believe change is a daily activity for me. 

Copyright © 2026 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2026 Kathleen G. Lupole