The First Day Of The Rest Of My Life

I also came to see "surrender" in a different light. It's not giving up or being a victim but accepting that you're in a transition and can't know what's ahead. As a friend described it, throwing out her arms as if to meet a lover or embrace a child, "You open yourself to what's unknown."

While there's no single route through the narrows, I can tell you that there's sunlight and air at the other side. What became clear for me may be utterly dif-ferent than for you. I've talked with a man who's building a hospital in Uganda, a woman who's becoming a nun at 50, a couple who are adopting a child at 61. Others have a passion to live near their families and play golf.

In some ways, I'm in the same situation now as when I started through the narrows. I have no idea what work I'll do next or what companions will be with me. But I'm not raging against it. Expectancy is in the air. The country ahead, from the scouting I've done, is not arid but rich and unpredictable, and I've come to be half in love with uncertainty.

© 2007