How do we survive our lives?

 I was watching a long preview of "News of the World" with Tom Hanks which is coming out soon and it is about a white girl raised by the Kiowa Tribe in 1870. I figure she must be about 10 or 12 years old when Tom Hanks (the news reader) shows up. It got me to think about how we survive our lives.

And the best I can come up with is: "We survive our lives one moment at a time."

If we get too far ahead of ourselves often there is trouble. But, if we live each moment as it comes and deal with that one, each moment becomes like a Stepping stone on into our future.

We don't learn everything at once in life. And even what we learn changes over time for various reasons.

When I grew up I knew I wanted to raise children: Why?

Because I thought grownups were mostly just miserable people. Growing up and being an adult was the last thing I wanted to do simply because all the grownups I knew were miserable. Then the. 1960s happened about from 1965 on and I started to have more hope that I wouldn't have to kill myself rather than live in this world. I started to have hope that I just might be able to find a way forward.

What I didn't realize then was that most people older than me had lived through part of World War II or the Great Depression AND World War II and it made them crazy in some ways. But, the people I met were mostly survivors or they would have died or taken their lives already.

I didn't fully understand all this until the Coronavirus really told hold by last Spring and summer and fully realized just how much these times were like the Great Depression and World War II and how this is destroying so many people either mentally, emotionally or physically but also financially, depending upon the person.

And if you aren't a natural survivor like I have always been you might not survive all this.

What is a survivor?

A Survivor stays interested in staying alive. a Survivor sets up some kind of pattern that makes their life have sense (even if it is only to them).

A Survivor is practical enough to take an interest in surviving enough to keep staying alive.

For me, the hardest time was between about 18 and 25 years of age. This is when my life made the least amount of sense to me. I had many many girlfriends but this isn't necessarily a good thing because you only need One good woman or girl friend to make your life actually work. But, for me, the most important thing came when my son was born in 1974. Then I gave up rock climbing and stayed alive unlike one of my friends who died free climbing Castle Crags near Mt. Shasta.

Starting to have children was what saved my young life and got me to work and to start or buy businesses to support all my children along the way, some biological and some adopted along the way.

Marriage was not really what sustained me it was raising my children that sustained me and gave me reason to live on.

I was a single father from 1977 until 1980 when I remarried and then when my older children were mostly out of high school there was another divorce in 1994 and I remarried in 1995 and had another daughter who is an adult now too.

How do we survive our lives?

By doing things that give our lives meaning so we want to live on for our children and to give them good lives too.

My parents were very religious but really didn't know much about raising kids. But, my father was valedictorian of his high School Class. I survived all this anyway.

But, they didn't drink or smoke and were ministers of a church from the time I was 6 to 12 years old. But, I must say they took much better care of me after they weren't in charge of that church anymore in Los Angeles.

How do we survive our lives?

One moment, one day at a time.

Everything keeps changing and if you can't adapt to the changes then your life might be over.

I'm just grateful the best part of my life has been the last 22 years since I was forced to retire at 50 because of my health. 

That might sound strange and boring to many of you but it has allowed me to visit friends and relatives and to travel the world with my children and wife and friends.

Life is Good! 

But, sometimes you have to be patient enough to survive the really difficult times. 

If I hadn't been very strong I wouldn't have made it through 1966 to 1973 and to 1974 when my son was born. So, stay alive as long as you can because your future might be amazing like mine has been!

By God's Grace