Making Investments, Collecting Dividends

Those of us nearing the end of our journey may begin to appreciate more fully what the decisions we have made during our lives have yielded. We can see what our investments, or failures to invest, have delivered in the way of results. These investments will have taken many forms, and it is only now that we, in the light of the judgements we are able to make at this stage, can see whether what we remain with is truly precious or only so much dross. The pain or pleasure from this evaluation can only be ours to inherit.

This is not yet the end of our stories, but it may be near the end of our retelling. Whether there will be other chapters to share remains yet to be seen. The blessing of heaven is that, for some of us, and in some cases, it may never be too late to alter the results before the final accounting. Isn’t that a wonderful reality?

We began with no conception of where it might end, where it might lead, but with the sad knowledge that it must inevitably end. In this, I am, like many others, nearing that end to the stories I can tell. You too, out there, must make your own judgements as to where you stand in the continuum of life. Some of us do this on a regular basis. For Jews like me, those who take these things seriously, we face the annual accounting coming up shortly that we call Yom Kippur.

My hope is that there are many out there like me who feel their stories are worth the telling. My hope is that others may have found some satisfactions and learnings in my telling of my tales.  Some of you out there may even be ready to share more of what you have learned.  Have you made many better investments than poorer ones? Surely you have some to be proud of.

Join me in the story-telling circle.  It’s good for the soul!