The beginning or the end?

In two days I will be completing eleven seven year cycles of my life. In celebration of this event I am sharing an excerpt from my yet to be published book, Journey of an Enlightened Egotist. This particular portion was written in 2007, when I thought it might be the end. It was only the beginning of another seven year stretch for growth.

It is now past Thanksgiving, but not yet Christmas and the end of 2007. I have just celebrated my 70th birthday and this year will mark the completion of ten seven year birth/death cycles. Scientists now know that every 7 years our bodies go through a complete change, including DNA. No doubt this occurs to put us in the right physical and mental place for new experiences. Just for fun check off your life in 7 year segments and note what happened.

This cycle is my biggest growth spurt so far. I have tuned in to my own belief system and developed my own philosophy. Although many have contributed to my success in their own way my journey has been a singular experience.

As I stand on the edge of a new cycle I wonder what the universe has in store for me. Is this the beginning or the end? Or somewhere in between?

I do not remember the life I helped program before this body and soul became one. I realize that a certain amount of amnesia is a necessary ingredient for human growth. Knowing challenges in advance of experiencing them would be like having the answers to a test before it is taken. Nothing new would be learned.

As the hands of the clock came close to striking midnight on December 31, 2007 I felt a little nervous that my physical life could end at any moment. Healthy people die every day of an unexpected stroke or heart attack.

I had good reason to feel this way. Years ending in the number seven have been land mark dates in my biological family. The year I was born 1937, my paternal grandfather died. My paternal grandmother died in 1957, my father in 1967 and my mother in 1987. On the other side of the coin, my paternal grandfather and maternal great grandmother were both born in 1867 and my maternal grandfather in 1887.

Since the proverbial ball dropped at midnight and I am still here I apparently have more time to inhabit this place called earth. Quite possibly many more years if I consciously choose experiences that evolve my soul. That is my goal for the next cycle of this physical life- and beyond.

That was then and this is now, seven years later and I am again at what could be the end or the beginning. I am choosing the latter as my intuition tells me I still have more stuff to do and learn.

Note: This post was partially written as a thank you to my friend and fellow author, Sadie Lydon, who recently read my manuscript and found this portion the most moving. We also decided to change the title to An Enlightened Egotist. Perhaps 2015 will be the year it is finally published!