Mid Life Reflections Poem by Nancy Terrell

Mid-life Reflections
Mid-life is concentrated upon learning
from varied positive and negative experiences.
Sitting on them
squeezing them
rolling them into a ball
analyzing and reanalyzing
thinking and rethinking.
The very crisis so dreaded
is an opportunity to take stock,
to plan for the ending of life
A time
for reflection and hope
A time to see one’s self
as we might truly become
An event of simple magnitude,
the advantage
of chafing the good from the past
combing it with present knowledge and experience
and planning for the inner personhood
of tomorrow
I am that I am
The answer lying
In the act of acceptance,
perceiving myself
as I want to be
with the tolerance of grace
Discarding those things
that cannot be changed
Concentrating on that simplicity
of being and doing
Subraction being of more importance
to the central core
than addition