<a href=”https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/final/”>Final</a&gt;

It was the final day of working at this job. The road to retirement had been a long one and I was excited that this day had finally come. There was a cake and some balloons on the table. A host of friends and family attended the event and there were some tears shed as we celebrated the end of the long road. It was a wonderful day that came and went with joy.

The next morning I got up and began to ponder on what to do next in my life. Final is never the end of things. It is just a transition into the next phase of life. That is a wonderful concept.

I began to look at all the dreams that had seemed impossible in the past due to work and family obligations. Now the journey through life seemed new and exciting. All things seemed possible again just like when I was a young person. Now was the question of what was the dream to pursue.

Volunteering my time to organizations that matched my ideal world seemed like a good place to begin. As the weeks went by I began to spend time at many organizations. For a while this plan worked and I was busy doing odd jobs for these organizations.

After a few months this work did not match the goals that I had for my life. My life was consumed again and there was no time to pursue other passions. Final became another transition as I chose to work at only one organization and decrease the amount of time spent there.

The next passion I decided to pursue was fitness. It seemed like the perfect time to get into shape. Through the years my passion for desserts and other wonderful high fat foods had finally caught up with me. I began walking each day and revised my diet. For a while this was actually fun.

I learned to cook food that was healthy and tasted good. It was an enlightening experience to realize that my food tasted as well as some of the restaurants that I had frequented in the past. My food was healthier with less fat and sugar. The pounds began to melt off and my health improved dramatically. This was a good final in the health realm for me.

As a child riding a bicycle had been a fun activity. I can remember the sense of freedom at having that first set of wheels. The neighborhood had become an adventure and the hills of where I grew up were fun to coast down. Picking up riding a bicycle again was a fun experience. There were a few falls along the way. I never forgot how to ride a bicycle but gaining balance again took a little time.

My home is near a reservoir with a lot of trails for walking and bicycle riding. The trails offer a vast array of beautiful views. Riding these trails crossing the water renewed my soul. There was peace in these valleys and beautiful scenery. This is when photography entered my life.

I bought a small camera and began taking pictures on my rides. It seemed that every place along the trails had a story to tell. Taking photographs seemed like an excellent way to capture the moments. There are birds in the water resting on perches enjoying the sun filled days. The trees along the trails have seen many years of visitors and have been home to many forms of wildlife. The photographs seem to capture some of their stories.

I had never written anything other than business letters through my life. Writing for fun had never been something that I had considered until now. Looking at the photographs from my travels it seemed like there was more of a story to tell. I wondered if writing stories about the life around me might be a passion worth pursuing.

That is how this blog came into being. The new journey through life seems like a story that needs to be told. This phase of life has so many exciting twists and turns. I hope that most of them will be entertaining and positive. So far this journey has been filled with laughter and few tears.

Final is what we call the transitions through life. There is a final day of  high school, a final day of college, a final day of work, and eventually a final day in the physical existence of this world. But for every final there is a new journey to be experienced. Hopefully it will be a fun and fulfilling one.

copyright 2017 Debbie Pierce

via Daily Prompt: Final