So I feel a little aggrieved to hear the “past peak” label. I’ve seen too much that might indicate otherwise.
I'm not sure what color to even call these stunning leaves. (No filter.)
And peak of what? Peak of beauty? By all means, if it ever was a thing to begin with. Peak of youthfulness? Definitely, why, I’m way passed middle aged now. (Although the oldest woman to have lived as verified by the Guinness Book of World Records was 122, so if I'm chasing her, I could be exactly middle-aged!) Peak of energy/productivity? Most days long past, for sure.
But what about...
Peak of creativity? Peak of knowledge? Peak of wisdom?
What about peak of kindness? Does anyone get to duck their head and say, “Well, I’m past my peak of kindness.”
Peak of goodness? Peak of learning?
Peak of joyfulness? Peak of helpfulness? Peak of prayerfulness?
Peak of being like Jesus? Ouch. (Can we ever declare, “oops, sorry, I was at my peak three years ago, I guess it’s all downhill from here” and get by with it?)
It’s easier to excuse myself than others, I’ve discovered. I have “reasons;” they are just giving excuses.
But what if I took a lesson from my leaf peeping adventures, and kept traveling the path before me, watching for opportunities to continue to grow forward and become more of who I’ve been created to be, even if I’m past my peak? What if we all did that? What might that look like?