When presented with a glass of water and asked, “Is the glass half full or half empty?” I always reply, “half full.” But a few years back, one of my friend’s kids came to me and told me that the glass is always full.

Since there are molecules in the air (Oxygen, Hydrogen, Carbon Dioxide, etc.), the glass is never empty.

I laughed because it was true.

I took something that I thought I knew and saw, made a judgment, and stuck to that. But when looked at in another way, a glass is always full because we don’t live in a vacuum.

In life, we like to add artificial passages of time and goals to our lives. We celebrate when we turn 18, 21, have our 20th anniversary and a whole list of other dates.

But on a personal level, what does it mean to be “near the finish line”?

When we are in a race, we can see the line that we need to cross. As a runner, I’ve had to push through and cross that finish line time after time. But what does “crossing the finish line” really mean?

We’re never truly really “done” with anything. If we are working on achieving a goal and want to cross the finish line, we can choose to dissociate ourselves with the event, and move on, but the memory of that time will stay with us.

I wonder what life would be like if we focus on each day and flip the meaning of “ending the race.”

In life, we have a string of days that stretch out to a time that is unknown to us. If we’re running a race, sure, we can cross the finish line, but we often have other races in life or want to continue training to keep our bodies in shape.

An arbitrary deadline or goal might be helpful in the short term, but I like to look at the larger picture.

Just because I graduated, college didn’t mean I’m done with learning.

When I finished my first novel, it’s more than 30 years later I still have those characters be in other stories.

Even if loved ones have passed on, their memory lives on in us.

Time is illusionary and yet so constant for us.

If we think that we’re ending one part of our lives, I suggest thinking about opening yourself up to new and exciting possibilities.

We might cross the finish line, but we’re still on the journey in life.

If you are newly retired, how else can you be of service to others?

New to marriage, what fun can you explore in building a relationship with your partner?

And how can you also strengthen your connections with your friends and family apart from your spouse?

When you cross the finish line of one part of your life, what other ways can you explore, grow, and give?

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