Feeling young again.......

Where did the time go? I think it went with my memory. Time and memory are a strange pair. They travel together like lovers throughout ones life. Then like most couples who've been together for a while, they start to look at things differently. The time says, "It was only yesterday." while the memory says, "That was ages ago and honey, it didn't happen exactly that way." Memory inadvertently rewrites history while time shows us no mercy. Or vice versa. What's a girl to do?

Then just when I think I can handle the fact that 50 is around the corner, age begins to gnaw at my beautiful life. Without missing a beat - unwavering and with a steady rhythm I see one more wrinkle...no two and more silver threads among the black, gold and brown hair; leftovers from 4 colors ago. Sigh........

It really feels like it was yesterday that we opened the Ranch and now, in less than a month we are about to close out our 13th season. Where did the time go? A student was just telling me this past weekend that when we opened our doors he remembers how emotional it was for me when I told the story of how the Ranch came to be. Well.... he noted nothing had changed and that my tears of gratitude were as heartfelt for him and the other students now as they were in 1998. It felt good to hear that my gratitude was still in tact.

So what's a few gray hairs? Wrinkles....I've earned those. Where I am today both personally and professionally is honestly the best place I've ever been. The first half of my life was spent being ridiculously opinionated without much to back it up. Though still embracing my right to speak freely, I am less concerned with being right and more willing to say when I am wrong. My best days are when I open myself up to learning a better way to look at things. I have a great staff that work side by side with me at the Ranch. I learn more from them about efficiency and professionalism than I have ever learned at any other job. Years ago I ran the ranch with 17 staff members, today we do a better job with a fraction of that. We are a community working in sync. They are great and they make me feel great about what I do regardless of the fact that my body doesn't feel as young as it used to.

I saw my Dr today. After months of physical therapy for a disc issue he said, "Your neck moves like a 20 year old". I felt young again................