On July 20th,1960 Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. This was indeed the beginning of an era in the adventures of the conquest of space.

Ironically July 20th, 2011 (just 51 years later) is also the end of an era, as the space shuttle Atlantis carrying 4 astronauts is close to completing its final mission.

And this morning, Thursday July  21st, 2011 the headlines read: Perhaps it was planned this way.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Space shuttle Atlantis touched down before dawn at Kennedy Space Center’s Runway 15, ending 30 years of space shuttle flights. (USA Today).

During the past 2-3 days there were many articles written around the world that highlighted the emotions of the moment as the astronauts faced the reality that 30 years of space travel was about to close, at least for a time.

The end of this era in the history of Space travel is yet another reminder that:

• Fact: life is full of changes. This brings us to a –
• Question: How do you and I handle these changes?

The Eras of Life:
Life full of adventure and this means embracing change. Each change will mean that life will probably never be the same again.

(Do I hear a sigh from you?)

But wait, change is not necessarily a negative thing!

(Yes, I understand that sometimes the situation that brought about the change may have been negative.)

Life is like a book with many chapters. As one chapter of your life comes to a close you may experience a mixture of emotions.

• Sometimes there will be sadness (and rightly so, when there is a loss).
• Sometimes you may experience gladness (I am glad that is over
• Then there are times when you may have a sense of anticipation and excitement because of a new adventure coming up.

Each chapter in life is a new adventure that contains it trials and triumphs.

Danger:
There is a danger! You may miss the full adventure of your present chapter IF:

• You refuse to accept the changes in your life.
• You refuse to close the past chapters in your life, and are still dragging those emotions into your present.
• You refuse to let go of people from your past years who are no longer a part of your present.

Embrace the new and live the adventure to the full. But how?

It is time to say "Good Bye" AND "Hello"

• Say Good Bye to your past – and Hello to your present.
• Focus on the now.
  All too many times you and I are distracted in our minds by some event in the past. Or perhaps we are busy trying to solve something in the future.
  What happens? We miss the moment!
• Give everyone and everything in your now your FULL attention.
  Enjoy the adventure of the now. Live life to the full.

Are you living life to the full? Are you giving your present moment your full attention?