Since I write every other week, this will be my final column entry for 2011. Another year has come and (almost) gone, a fact that is almost alarming when I stop and think about it.

The days, weeks, then years seem to whoosh by like road signs along a superhighway. Maybe this is a good thing or maybe not? On one hand, there’s no time to be bored. On the other, I don’t know if it’s good to always be in a hurry. I am having trouble remembering what it feels like to have nothing to do.

I used to get bored when I was a kid. My siblings and I would “invent” things to do, which turned out to be some of my fondest memories. Was that the good old days? I yearn to find just the right mix of getting things done, relaxing and creating fun memories. I keep searching and feel some urgency to get it right because I know that the road doesn’t go on forever. There’s a dead end somewhere and Ihave no idea where it is. I want to spend my life the right way.

My friend Patty says I think too much, but there’s so many ways to question the journey. Where am I going and why? How will I know when I get there? Do I carry the lessons learned from the journey up to now as tools for dealing with what happens ahead or simply as weights that encumber my travels? Whose travels have been made richer for having encountered mine? OK, I give. Patty is right.

I am consciously pulling over and focusing on this moment in time. Here’s what I know to be true at least for this stretch in my life. I have encountered a few rough spots, but by and large, my journey up to now has been tremendously blessed. For that I am truly grateful. Having grown children for friends is the best, and grandchildren are the greatest reward for the work, worry and sacrifices made during thechild-rearing years.

What a blessing to have ready access to little people and get another chance at witnessing the world unfolding! I watch our youngest grandson, Canyon, and marvel. At just one year of age, he “does” life so well. I have taken notes and here are the tips I find in his “how to” manual: Assume everyone likes you. Decide on your own when it’s time to do something and ignore people who do silly things to try to get you to do otherwise. If you’re fed, warm and loved, don’t worry about anything. Take naps. Cry when you need to and smile when you want to - maybe even while a wet tear still lingers on your cheek. Dance even if you can’t walk. Just grab hold of something and dance.

Maybe next year I will spend more time living and less time thinking about it. That’s my goal.

Wishing each one of you a Merry Christmas and a safe, enjoyable journey for the New Year.

Annette Rowe is a freelance writer from rural Gentry and a speechlanguage pathologist at Siloam Springs High School. She may be reached by email at [email protected].

Opinion, Pages 5 on 12/21/2011