The Ages

I did not post to the blog yesterday. Wednesday was a 'getting ready for a colonoscopy' day. That meant no solid food. Only liquids and clear ones at that. Chicken broth and water were the mainstays. With that diet I attempted to maintain a normal schedule for the day. One meeting to get to prepare for, and conduct, then return home. 

As you might expect my mind was elsewhere. I didn't even feel interested in reading, let alone writing. So the Blog had a vacation.

Wednesday evening from 5 pm to midnight was consumed with preparation for the procedure early Thursday morning. Drinking a gagging concoction of bowel flushing ingredients was the task. It was not pleasant. I'll leave it at that.

And then the procedure day. All went well. We arrived at the hospital at 5:45 am, were processed into the gastroenterology wing and further prepped for a 7 AM procedure. Groggy but glad it was over, we were home shortly after 8 AM. Rocky fixed a small breakfast of eggs and English muffin and lots of juice. Then I hit the recliner and slept for 2 hours. They told me not to do anything outside the home and not to drive until Friday. I couldn't if I wanted to! I slept. A lot.

So here I am Friday morning bright and filled with energy! And ready to get back to a full schedule.

My thoughts are on ages -- A granddaughter turns 14. Another is 11. A grandson is 14 months old. And Mom is 101. My daughter is 43 and son is 40.

I’m nearing 72 and the body reminds me well of that fact. My brother is nearing 76 and my sister 73. The core family is dwindling and aging. The dwindle is slow. The aging fast.

What we do with that time is up to us. Always has been. Always will be. 

There are so many opportunities to follow. So many in fact that we mostly don't see them. How many times have you asked yourself  'where are the options'? You feel stymied and out of opportunities? The opposite is true in most cases. Options exist at every turn. We are too consumed by circumstances to see clearly.

Experience informs us - we can follow this path, or follow that one. Each decision allows subsequent options. As experience grows still more options appear, each with an opt in or out decision. The trouble might be that most of us do not have a clear idea of where we want to go. We say we want to be happy but don't know what that fully entails. We see other happy people but don't really understand why they are happy.

There is no template for happy. I have to make my life happy. I must discover what makes it so. And so do you and everyone of us.

Awaking to a new day makes me happy. Hearing birds warbling their tune of greeting makes me happy. Seeing people out and about on their routines makes me want to do the same. I check my calendar and note the appointments. No doctor appointments; that's good! No nasty meetings with people I don't want to be around. That's even better! Three meals ahead of me; that holds promise and satisfaction. I wonder what they will be? And that alone makes me happy.

The meetings I have posted and will continue to make are for a purpose I think is very positive. That is SCORE and the young and hopeful entrepreneurs we help begin or perfect their small businesses. That is a mission of long term hope and genius for our nation. New ideas, new businesses and fresh energy always give the promise of hope and economic development.

Those small businesses are the seedlings of happy lives. 

So too my work with AA and the church. Seeds of happy lives - helping others transform from less happy to more happy. That's a purposeful mission to follow. 

So too is smiling and saying something pleasant to complete strangers met in the course of a day. That behavior tends to leave a trail of smiles and good feelings behind. That is also a good mission to follow.

Age is a number that tends to be viewed as a template of how to act. It really isn't that. We only tend to make it so. No, age to me is yet another opportunity to follow the mission, or select a new one.

So many options. So many good things to do. To think about. To relish!

March 20, 2015