an ideal time

"youth is not a time of life.  it's a state of mind.  it's a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over love of ease.  nobody grows old by merely living a number of years.  people grow old only by deserting thier ideals.  years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.  whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every being's heart the love of wonder, the sweet amazement at the stars and the starlike things and thoughts, the undaunted challenge of events, the unfailing childlike appetite for what next and the joy of the game  of living.  you are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence; as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair.  so long as your heart receives messages of beauty, cheer, courage, grandeur and power from the earth, from man and from the Infinite, so long are you young.  live everyday of your life with enthusiams!"  (gen. douglas macarthur)   http://faculty.washington.edu/kendo/macarthur.html ~('o')~ these words from a man of historical significance reminded me to look inside me and thereby find what is meaningful and childlike in me -my thoughts, my dreams, my heart, my soul.  for knowing these, i will always take with me the hope and the cheer to look forward with awe and wonder at what the future holds for me.  it may not be with clarity and certainty just yet, but knowing who holds the future and who watches over me, is perhaps, in this changing times, enough to sustain me.  the cycle of nature will go on unceasing, and time will age me, but for as long as i look up, grasp the warmth of the sunny day;  embrace the blessings of rain; stare in amazement at the stars, and fill my heart with love and faith, i will always be young . . .  _huggin_