“A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery while on a detour!”
Seeing that it is Memorial Day weekend, I am going to deviate a bit this week (primarily due to all that has happened across our country this past week) and be a bit philosophical versus comical.
Did you ever stop and think how often during our lives we say and do things that – when you really get right down to it – create negative feelings within us.
For instance, how many times can you remember days that you got up – went about your business – and later in the day or quite possibly early in the evening you find yourself saying – Wow, where did the day go?
I could go on about days we worked but being retired now for over 25 years instead I’ll talk about what we do now in our retired life. Even though we are now retired and supposedly have all the time in the world, at times I find myself mumbling things like “It’s Friday, where did the time go.” You know what I mean, we remember getting up Monday and saying to ourselves, hmmm, let’s see I have this, this, and this to do, and then before you know it, we are checking the calendar and lo and behold its Friday!” Where did the week go?
This could go on and on and on – for instance, where did May go, and later in the year we could find ourselves saying “Can you believe it the year is almost over. And I won’t even get into the times I have thought about the fact that “can you believe it – 60, 70, or 80 years of our lives have passed by already”. Sad feature is that we cannot go back to relive or do over those times no matter how enjoyable they were. I know – there are probably many things we think about that we could do differently.
Fact is, if you are anything like me, when you get to my age, I stop at times and think of so many things I should be doing. I know, I know, some of those things will get done but here’s the thing – how many must be done right now? Who would ever have thought I would live this long? And since I have made it this long, my educated guess is that I should prioritize those things I want to do.
Making it to age 81 never entered my mind while I was growing up. But I have learned that despite everything that has happened in the past and being honest with myself, may happen in the future, I am going to try to enjoy whatever remaining time there is for me as we all should.
How is that done you might ask – well, let’s look at our life like an artist’s palate.
I’ve always been a guy that likes the colors blue and grey. Many of my shirts are blue or grey. But the older I get I have been adding more color in my life. I am now wearing brighter colors these days. Red, purple, tan, teal, and so forth. Also, shirts with pictures on them, flowers, stripes, and the like – anything that is bright. Let’s face it – bright things make us happy and lift our spirits. And at our age we need to keep looking for activities that we like.
I subscribe to a newsletter that provides me with several articles each morning designed to make me smile, and many times laugh. So, every morning after breakfast, I call up this newsletter on my smart phone and while enjoying my morning coffee, we (my wife and I) listen to several of the jokes provided or listen to that day’s stand-up comedian which usually has both my wife and I smiling and laughing by the time they are done. Great way to kick off the balance of the day. Why? Because they leave us smiling and ready to tackle whatever we placed on our “To-Do” list for that day.
Being our age, and I must admit – I need to work on this one – I am doing my best to eliminate the – hmmm- how shall I put this – ‘afters’ in my life. What ‘after’s’? After’s such as:
When asked to do something that truly needs to be done, I usually say “I’ll do it after…” or my honey will ask my opinion on something she needs an answer to and I will respond by saying “I’ll think about it after…”.
Think about that word “after” for a moment. What does after mean? My educated guess is that many of us don’t understand or realize what after or afterwards actually means. Think about it.
What happens ‘afterwards?
Well, afterwards the coffee gets cold;
afterwards, our priorities could change;
the charm of the moment could change;
health changes and we may not have the ability to do whatever it was we delayed doing;
our children grow up and move away;
dependent upon our age – our parents get older;
had we made promises – they are forgotten;
days turn into nights;
many of our priorities probably change;
life ends and what does that mean
well, at this point, afterwards will probably mean
it’s often too late.
What does this all mean especially when you are my age, no, no matter what age you are? Leave nothing for later because the fact is by waiting to see someone later might just mean we may lose the best moments; the best experiences; best friends; the best family and so forth and so on.
With the world being what it is today, we are no longer at the age where we can afford to postpone what needs to be done right away.
We must live for today. Today is today. The moment is now!
Allow me to share several quotes with you that relate to this post:
Larry McMurtry said it best when he said:
“If you wait, all that happens is that you get older.”
Eckhart Tolle said:
Realize deeply that the present moment is all you really have.”
But the quote I liked best of those I read said:
“Whether it’s the best of times or the worst of times, it’s the only time we’ve got.” – Art Buchwald
If you don’t take anything away from reading this post, think about this: Consider the content of this post as a reminder that every moment matters. And if every moment matters, then we must
Seize every moment!
We must live for today. Today is today. The moment is now!
Until next time! Y’all come back now, ya hear!
You must be logged in to post a comment.