Demands of Presidential Election

Getting older is driving me to grow and improve.  I find many places where I want to examine life and events in greater detail, but I'm not always prepared for the result.  Right now I am focusing on the political situation and the presidential race, and I don't like the effort it takes to examine the record of candidates.  The deeper I get in looking at this kind of stuff, the less I like any of the candidates.


I am insulted by Obama's refusal to honor the American flag, or salute when the National Anthem is played.  I wonder how veterans feel when he makes statements that praise their service, but he has been photographed repeated without the customary salute to the flag during the playing of the song or reciting the Pledge of Allegiance .  This sounds like a petty reason not to vote for him, but it does go to the foundation of what it means to be an American.


Most of what I see on TV is political rhetoric designed to influence and persuade rather than inform.  Nobody is really talking about the failure of the economic rescue.  Predictions from economists are disheartening:  Things are going to get worse again, and this time nobody will be spared.  


Obamacare has been declared the law of the land by the highest court, and it seems like there is nothing we can do about it.  I guess there are still people calling for it's repeal.  Really?  I think it's a lost cause.  Nobody knows what it means.  The people who wrote it don't even know, and certainly, nobody has explained it to the people who will be affected by it.  But if I heard right, Congress won't be affected.  Aren't they exempted?  


What was that I said about understanding life in a deeper and more concentrated way?  Do I really want to?  Will it help?  

Getting Older, Hurting More

I learned that Chiropractic wasn't the new cure I hoped it was.  I went to my doctor last week, and he X-rayed my neck.  The reason it hurts all the time is that there isn't much cartilage in it anymore, and two of the vertebrae have fused.  I am getting older--I should expect these changes.  


Somehow I never get ready for things to be painful or limiting.  Getting older is better when I feel I have accomplished something, conquered a mountain, or learned a new truth.  And I am still looking for those successes.  I keep trying to push on in spite of distractions, and sometimes I do.  I am comforted, in the face of the things I can't do anymore, with the fact that I did them when it mattered.  I don't sew anymore, partly because my vision is not very good for that kind of work.  Now the neck would be a problem too.  But I remember some of the things I made for my kids--pants, dresses, swimsuits, jackets, and western shirts for my husband.  I don't need to do that anymore.  


I wonder how much that sewing contributed to the pain in my neck.

Memories for the Future

This isn't really the house I grew up in, but it looks a lot like it.  It works for memories.

One of the fun things I enjoy about getting old is found in the thrill I get from recounting, remembering, and sharing memories. First, I find the remembering gives me a sense of reliving the event.  I get to share the people and the thrill of the moment with a whole new audience.


The second part of the fun is the way it blesses me to hear people I love from long ago.  I hear them laugh at me or scold me just like they did, and I feel loved again.  There is an Theven greater appreciation for the love of family and friends when you meet them in a memo

The most embarrassing moments are no longer devastating in a memory.  I may remember that I was mortified when I was fifteen and didn't know how to give a speech, but now I can reflect on the event and allow myself to recover.  Now I can stand in front of an audience and not melt, but it did take practice and confidence.  It's nice to know I did grow up.


Memories bless you all your life.  They also give you a chance to repent, ask forgiveness, and replay your last rant.  Getting older means getting better, and some of the things we profit from are our memories.  Enjoy them.  Learn from them.  And don't let anyone tell you that you are living in the past.  You are just bringing the past into the present time so it can bless the future..

Massage and Chropractic

English: Thai Massage (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I had never been to see a Chiropractor until this week, but I had begun to get weekly massages.  The massages relieved pain and pressure in my neck, shoulders and back.  It was wonderful.  The pain in my neck had been so severe that I often went to bed early or endured pain that made me nauseated.   After I started getting the massages weekly, I realized that the relief was wonderful but temporary, so I thought it was time to get more serious about the treatment.


One reason I like this approach is the lack of chemical or pharmacological agents.  I don't do well with many medications.  In addition to that, I like it because at any time I can say, "That's enough."  I may be a control freak, but I want to know what is happening and be able to stop when I want.  When you take medication, it is in your body and the effects may last beyond the time you want them to.  I find that unacceptable especially since the effects can cause visual distortion, loss of balance, allergic reactions, or intoxication.  Massage and Chiropractic haven't caused any of these negative events for me.  


If you've never tried it, you might want to consider it before you take your next pill.

Experience and Wisdom

It seems that denial is one of the best defense mechanisms I practice. When I have that option, I can embrace youth, vitality, and optimism.  Denying the ravages that old age is producing does nothing to remove them, and it only makes me feel better about my prospects as long as I don't have to face the truth.


I have sought a better way to face old age, and according to people like George Valliant and Gene Cohen, those strategics do exist.  They  may involve re-framing events to view the successes instead of the failures and the ability to continue to get joy from past positive 
experiences.  


I don't suggest that we should live in the past, but remembering joy can still give you joy.  When it comes to the abilities you feel old age is taking from you, look at the things that old age is giving you.


Wisdom is supposed to be the task of old age.  It's said to arrive with the gray hair and creaky knees, but the fact is that wisdom comes from experience, and a lot of that is related to bad choices.  Nothing teaches you the wise path like making the wrong choice.  One of the wise maneuvers you probably learned as you moved through your younger years had to do with these mistakes.  


I learned that I can watch my friends and family and learn from their mistakes as well as my own.  I don't have to do everything wrong to learn that it's a bad way to go.  I can get a lot of information about bad choices by watching other people and learning from their mistakes.  It may not have the same impact as doing it myself, but neither does it have the same consequences.


We try to share this wisdom with younger people, but they all seem to want to do it for themselves.  Oh, well, I tried.

A Short Visit for the Holiday

I am going on a little trip to visit my daughter, her husband and their two daughters.  It'll be wonderful!  They live in McAllen (that's still in Texas), but it is in the Rio Grand Valley.  I live closer to the Red River Valley.  Well, I used to.  I came from Red River County.  


I am going to enjoy their new house and go shopping and spoil the girls.  That's what grandmothers do.  Grandmothers also tut-tut a lot when the kids wear styles they don't like or eat things that look strange.  I'll stay four days and hug everybody a lot, and I'll get to tell all the stories of what I have been doing lately, and relive the fun parts and re-frame the disasters into a better outcome.  Visiting kids and grand kids is create.  When I come home, I'll get to tell all those stories too.  Remembering what was fun and sharing the pictures is have the fun of going.  It makes the trip last a lot longer, too.

Aging Is Great!

Theories about how older people deal with social attachments  abound.  Do we withdraw from social functions as we age? Are we less interested in connecting with others?  Are we lonely and sad because others withdraw from us?  Maybe it's our focus on memories and the past that drives others away.


I don't engage in much of the social whiz-bang, but I don't think it has much to do with my age.  I didn't enjoy the social clubs/activities much when I was young.  I liked the people and I supported their causes, but small talk and dressing up for the meetings didn't impress me. I find that aging is a distilling process.  I enjoy what I always enjoyed.  Now I have more freedom to say no to things I was hesitant to refuse earlier.  When I was younger, I sometimes engaged in activities because my husband or children wanted or needed to be active.  I was just there by association.


As one woman of 76 said, "Life's too short to spend time with people I don't like doing things I don't enjoy."  I'm not a good 42 player, I never really learned the finer points of Bridge, and Canasta was my aunt's thing, not mine.  I have discovered that my contacts are centered around church, Bible study, and academic pursuits.  I am still trying to learn Latin.  I love Hebrew, though I find it very challenging.  Other languages, history, poetry, and the occasional side trip into brain anatomy fascinate me.  I am still very interested in ecology, too.  The things I like are not topics that come up much in casual conversation, so the opportunity for a quick comment is rare.


The number of personal contacts is one indicator used by statisticians and experts to gauge a person's life expectancy and, also, life satisfaction.  Even if you don't like the people you have contact with, they are still a factor in your life expectancy.  The people we get mad at are significant in our goals and vitality.  If you want to write a letter to the editor or a criticism of a public figure, it may become a driving force in your life.


The people we enjoy are more fun and less stressful to engage with and, maybe, give us more satisfaction.  We have already come through the Liberation Phase which gives us more freedom to think and express ourselves.  In the phase of life Gene Cohen calls "Summing Up" we enter into a time of reflection.  We try to find a larger meaning in our lives, and we want to give back.  I don't know that older people want to retreat from life or other people, but I don't see much incentive to be bored by things or people I don't like.