Denial

I was having lunch today with a good friend (actually, her son married my daughter!) and we were talking about finding ourselves in this new stage of life.  Something she said really struck me - how it seemed to sneak up on us.  One day we're busy, active mothers with too much to do and all of a sudden, we find ourselves wondering what to do now.  

Maybe it was denial but I really didn't think about the next stage of life until I was experiencing it firsthand.  I started asking friends how they were managing.  All expressed some level of adjustment they've had to make that was unexpected.  Some have experienced depression or grief over losing their purpose in life.  Some are finding that they have to get to know their husband all over again.  Some are discovering new health worries.  Some are thinking about their own mortality for the first time. 

Whatever adjustment has to be made, it's all for the best.  Change is good for us.  It helps keep us alive and active.  Without change, we become stagnant and things that are stagnant, die. 

Every stage has something for us to learn.  We've completed the active stage of parenting children at home and now it's time for something different.  Life still has much to offer.