Today’s posts will be delayed. I’m fulfilling one of my bucket list items.
Chaperon an overnight Elementary school field trip.
We slept next to the Manatee exhibit windows last night at Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo.
Writing this from our breakfast break at 730am.
Pictures and stories (about midlife) are almost certain to follow.
Carpe diem.
Wheels Up, It's a Brand New Day!
PSA, public service announcement.
Just wanted to remind everyone that most of my daily posts will resonate with the target audience (which is everyone).
Some days, of course, will be better than others and some days may seem to miss the mark.
But the one thing that will remain constant is that not a single day will go by that doesn’t begin with purposeful thought about the glorious opportunity to seize the day.
To do work that matters.
The clock is ticking.
Impossible is nothing.
And don’t forget about “balance“.
Humans Discount Simple Answers
Each and every day, what do you get done before leaving your dwelling?
Is it the same every day, or different?
Are you in a fog or crystal clear?
I’d say it was roughly 40 years before I figured out the difference.
And the answer has changed my life. I hope it transforms yours as well.
However, the answer is so simple, most of you will never figure it out.
Today is an “active rest” day.
Our good friend and regular MidLife Celebration Sunday Guest Blogger, Lorie Sheffer, thought I might enjoy this 61-second video, recorded by this young child with big dreams. Lorie was right:
Will one of your big dreams involve getting healthy, or staying healthy?
Will You Overcome Your Fear Of Success?
Who’s permission do you need to do whatever it is you want to do?
Maybe it’s crazy to think this, but can’t we assume that at midlife, we are old enough and responsible enough to make good changes, better changes?
If not you, who?
If not today (or soon), when?
If someone asked you what’s at the very center of your life, what would you say?
Well, There's Fruit On The Plate
I instantly get gratified each week when I see Lorie’s email with her “blog attachment”. Take it away Lorie:
She finished her dinner of grilled steak, loaded baked potato and deep-fried onion with gooey dipping sauce. Just as she folded her napkin, a waiter walked by carrying a tray on which stood a hot fudge sundae. “I’ll have one of those!” she said, feeling instant gratification. The next day she went for her regular medical checkup and was told that her cholesterol was still above reasonable limits and that she had to begin taking medication. She also had type 2 diabetes. Her impulsive decisions and need to be instantly gratified have now affected her long-term health and happiness.
My friend called me in tears. Her husband had cheated on her. He swore that it “meant nothing”. Their family has been hurt and they are now headed toward divorce. His need for instant gratification has ruined his long-term happiness.
Our financial advisor told us of the clients he has who, after only a year into a new Presidency, were angry that we were not out of the recession. They thought we should be back on track and the economy should be stronger than ever. He tried to explain that it takes time, and that things are moving slowly in the right direction. There is no magic wand solution to a global economic crisis, and yet the public doesn’t want to hear that it takes time. They want to be able to receive loans for larger homes and spend money on vacations and newer more expensive cars, not understanding that lack of impulse control helped lead us into this mess. They want to buy now and pay the bill later, if ever.
Hopefully as of next week I will be spending my days in a rehabilitation hospital instead of an acute care hospital. I am preparing my father for the long road he faces. I have told him that some other patients will have an even longer recovery than he will have. There is not a quick fix. There is no other way to becoming functional than to work hard every day. It takes time. We all want him home NOW. We all want him to get out of bed and walk, to be able to swallow his food and to get in his truck and drive off to work. But we cannot snap our fingers and have those things happen. It is going to take months of hard work and patience and determination. He understands all too well. Our family has been down this road before, after my husband’s stroke. It is not fast and it is not easy.
We used to have to wait until evening, when we heard the voice Walter Cronkite or Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, to hear the news of the day. Now, we can turn on one of many 24-hour news shows, or head to our computer, or even get instant updates via our blackberry. We don’t have to wait. In many respects this is good. Sometimes having instant access is even lifesaving. But what happens when we become so accustomed to getting what we want when we want it that we no longer have the ability to wait? If we aren’t used to ever having to exercise impulse control, how do we learn patience? How do we learn patience when we are used to instant gratification?
There are times in life when not being able to delay our instant gratification will undermine our long-term happiness. There are times when, no matter what technology is at hand, there is no fast and easy way to an end result that we need or want. What then? Sometimes we cannot have what we want when we want it. Sometimes we must wait, and understand, in the words of The Most Trusted Man in America, the late Walter Cronkite, “that’s the way it is.”
1 Adult, 4 Boys, 1 Girl & 1 Puppy
Do you find it intriguing that as we get older we spend less and less time, maybe even no time, on some of the most basic, fundamental essentials?
Like exercise.
Like art.
Like experimentation.
Last night, returning from a three-day trip, we had Cooper in our front yard. Four children in the yard across the street came running over.
Walking would have only cost them 10-15 seconds more.
Today’s post at Lane 8 should only take 10-15 seconds to read.
“No great deed, private or public, has ever been undertaken in a bliss of certainty.”
– Leon Wieseltier
This is something that we all need to grasp. Our lofty, childhood dreams to do good and noble work may never be reborn in midlife, because Leon is right.
Kids rarely walk from one thing to another. Why did we stop running everywhere?
What would you pay to have “balance’” or overall wellness as some call it?
Be honest, your life is fairly out of control if you inventory your life and ask these questions:
Am I as healthy as I know I’d like to be?
Am I as focused on my relationships and helping others as I’d like to be?
Does my boss adore me? What about the people that work with me?
Is my attitude as open, creative, and positive as I’d like it to be?
Do I spend less than I earn?
If tomorrow never comes, will she know how much I loved her?
Guess What This Acorn Wants To Be
What do you want from life?
Do you know?
Have you asked for it?
What are you waiting for?
You’ll probably race through your day, distracted (on purpose) so you don’t have to face yourself in the mirror.
Right?
What if you went for a walk, or chewed your food a little more slowly at lunch and contemplated what you’d like to do before you die.
How's Teaching You Everyday?
4 Things I learned yesterday:
There was more.
Bummer, Eh?
Happy Monday everyone. Hope your weekend was good. There is much worry and trouble in the world.
Let us do today what we can to make ourselves and those around us happy.
In 56 days, on October 17, these five different, daily blogs I write will reach a grand total 3,000 posts.
This five-a-day blogging began all because our son questioned why his 2nd grade teacher wanted him to read out loud 20 minutes each night.
And the five topics (blogs) were created so a Father could have a simple way to teach his son about life.
Reserved Parking?
Our Sunday regular Guest Blogger, Lorie Sheffer, returns to entertain and enlighten us:
I thought that after some time had passed I would learn to ignore it, but it’s been several years now and it still irks me whenever I see it. It is especially annoying when the parking lot is full and I am having an especially rough day. There it sits, mocking me. It is the dreaded Stork Parking sign at my local Food Lion. “Stork Parking” in bold letters, with a character of a bird that belongs on a Vlasic pickle jar. The smaller print beneath the bird gives details for those who may question it; “For new and expectant mothers”.
I have a vague recollection of being pregnant. It wasn’t that bad. People threw parties for me and gave me gifts. I got to buy new clothes. When you are pregnant, you can take a nap when you want or prop up your swollen feet and nobody questions it. You’re “doing it for the baby.” Now I am 51 years old and nobody cares. Google the “35 symptoms of menopause” and see how much fun that sounds like. I’ve paid my dues and I want a special parking space, preferably in a shady area away from noonday sun. It would really be nice to have shuttle service to and from the entrance of the store. While they’re at it, how about a parking space reserved for Mothers of Teenagers? Now there’s a group of women who deserve some special treatment. Maybe menopausal women can get a sign with a vulture on it, for days when we feel especially discarded.
This morning I had to make a run to Food Lion. I forgot to get Gary’s orange juice when I got groceries yesterday. (see menopausal symptom #13, Disturbing memory lapses) The parking lot was nearly empty. The Stork Parking sign was taunting me. I glanced at my reflection in the rear view mirror. I looked like a character from a Tim Burton movie. I was up all night having hot flashes. I pulled into the coveted parking spot. What were they going to do, come out and make me pee on a stick? Tell me to my face that I am too old to reproduce? While I was in getting Gary’s juice, I thought I may as well get myself some Estroven, Nair Facial Hair Remover, Clinical Strength Secret Antiperspirant and a jumbo sized box of Twin Pops. I forced myself to walk past a gorgeous display of the most beautiful glazed doughnuts I had ever laid eyes on. It’s been SO LONG since I’ve had a doughnut! I also saw a shelf of Extra Large Muffin Tops. “No thanks, I’ve already got one of those.”
As I stood in the check out line, I glanced at the magazines. There on the cover of one of them was Jim Bob and Michelle Dugger, holding what I think is their twentieth child. They say they are ready to have another one. Wow. The things some women will do for a good parking spot!
(scroll down for yesterday’s post or go to Lane 8 )
Will We Recognize Truth When We See It?
The truth hurts. The truth will set you free.
At midlife, we have an opportunity to: Rethink, Reprioritize, and Recommit.
Our challenge? We’ve ingrained our poor habits so deeply that it’s impossible to change.
Yet.
Yet there is an opportunity to overcome this. But you REALLY have to want it.
This is the part that gets tricky.
(2nd of my 5 daily blogs, click here)
We see it everyday. Despair. Gloom. Frustration.
Midlife should be the time of our life, but it’s not.
The 1 midlife changing secret?
Give yourself a deadline. Literally.
This is probably going right over your head. Being a very busy person is great medicine for avoiding the pain of an unfulfilled life.
I’m giving myself until June 8, 2019.
(scroll down for yesterday’s post or visit my next blog, Lane 8 )
