Tomorrow will be already 5 years since my dad passed away. That day was one of those days that make life shifts, that change everyone affected, that mark the difference between before and after.

Looking back at these 5 years, it could be that I have learned during these years even more from my dad and what he was teaching me with his life/way of living, as I have during his lifetime here. Or better say, I was able to integrate and embrace all of it, during what and whom life brought to me in these years.

There is one insight and thought that stayed with me since that day and keeps coming to my mind, especially at this time of the year, – that there is such grace and humbleness for the sacredness of life present at the moment when one life and its purpose here on earth is fulfilled, and that you just can not demand of life to give you or be more, or less, as it is.

With years, it seems more and more precious, and in a way sacred and graceful, to me, this life of mine, our lives, how we live our lives, what we create, and how we contribute. Moment by moment, with people on our path, coming and going, some staying we grow together, and with some, we continue separate ways. With all ‘why-s’, ‘what-s’, and ‘how-s’ within, and in between.

Looking back at the last five years of my life, or just one – this now ending year, it amazes me how much has happened, how much has changed, how much I have learned, and how much I have created. I could not possibly know this in advance, before living it all through. I am more and more realizing how experiences, relationships, and lessons are connected, or at least some connections start to indicate the meaning behind them. I found myself observing how years are creating and reflecting a flow of my life, how my life is unfolding each year, and how I evolve in it/into it.

“To know that you know what you know and that you do not know what you do not know, that is the biggest knowledge of all.” This thought from Lao Tzu seems appropriate for concluding one cycle and beginning a new one. Being aware of the difference between one and the other, and what changed (you) in between. Being open to starting the new, embracing what was and what brought you here and now, and without knowing what it will bring. Just embrace it all together. It fills you with a sense of gratitude, inner peace, hope, and at the same time excitement for life.

Life is what we make of it. And it takes love and respect for life to fulfill it, to create of it what was meant to be for you. Embrace life. Give more love into your life. There is so much more you can be in it. There is so much more to love, to create, and to give. Give it all. Embrace the journey. Embrace yourself.