“It is true that the old have no opportunities, no possibilities in the future. But they have more than that. Instead of possibilities in the future, they have realities in the past – the potentialities they have actualized, the meanings they have fulfilled, the values they have realized – and nothing and nobody can ever remove these assets from the past.”
– Man’s Search for Meaning
Reading this, I hope to see my impending leave from this place and life in a new light.
Yes, I will probably not experience life as a student again. I may not ever have as much time with and by myself. I might not have as much time to reflect and think and ponder in the rush of work and commitments and social obligations.
But, all those hours I have invested doing these in the past years – would have contributed to my being, to the person I am and will be.
And wherever I work, serve or practice – the insights and knowledge I have gained will make their presence felt. I can tap on them, their accumulated presence in my mind and life, to be the best I can be in every moment I have. They have not been wasted, because they have Been.
“Instead of possibilities in the future, they have realities in the past – the potentialities they have actualized, the meanings they have fulfilled, the values they have realized – and nothing and nobody can ever remove these assets from the past.”
Along Life's Path 