Oh, For Longing.

There is longing in each of us.  It takes many forms.  Gets us moving forward or standing still, frozen by its hopelessness.  Longing can last a moment or a lifetime.  It is what we have at that moment before night overtakes us, when we remember one last thing we could have done, could have been.

It is the part inside us that is never quite fulfilled.  And it will either cripple us or make us live.  It is a child waiting by the window for a friend, a parent, a grandparent, to arrive, hopeful and so excited.  Yes, longing can be exuberant.  It can be the expectation of something wonderful yet to come.

I have seen longing in my children’s faces before a birthday, waiting for a surprise, emotion radiating from their very pores.  I have felt longing in myself, in the hope of a new beginning, new places, faces.  Longing is in all of us and how we express it or suppress it will fulfill or defeat us.

I choose to long as a child longs, with all my being, shaking with the energy of it, with the thrill of it.  I want to be propelled forward with longing, to accomplish all that life, God, and family have to offer.  I want to end my days with no more longing, with only a deep sigh of satisfaction and thanksgiving, with all the conquest of longing behind me.