Wonder

Reading today from an essay by Charles Krauthammer, he notes: “[I]t is hard for anyone to apprehend the sheer felicity of one’s own time until it is gone.”  This seems (though Krauthammer might not appreciate the analogy) to be the same sentiment as Joni Mitchell’s song: “Don’t it always seem to go, you don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone.  They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”

From whichever author, I appreciate the sentiment.  It is indeed difficult, perhaps impossible, to fully appreciate the ups and downs of life events while in their midst.  It is only, after the ride, looking back and seeing the roller coaster, that one can – if then — fully appreciate the ups and downs, the twists and turns, that were somehow negotiated.  It is then, I guess, when I am provided with the choice between pride and humility, between patting myself on the back and muttering the line from the Kris Kristofferson tune: “Why me, Lord.  What have I ever done, to deserve even one, of the pleasures I’ve known?”