Monthly Archives: November 2011
End of Year Plan
This post is more for me than for you but if anyone can identify, okay. Note to self, I will not make myself crazy between now and the end of the year. Just a few short weeks but in America at least a few of the craziest weeks of the year. The pressure to spend money is tremendous. The platform for overeating can be overwhelming and for many of us in recent years the dangerous desire to compare our current status to the old days or to how others are living is as they say a “cruel mistress”.
So my plan for the rest of the year is simple. I am going with the flow. We will buy some gifts for the grand kids and that’s it. One way or the other we will spend some time with them during Christmas week. I will not eat every cookie and cake that floats by and most of all I promise to enjoy this time with family and friends.
That’s my story and I’m stickin to it!
Acceptance is Part of the Battle
So what have I learned at 60? To accept things. When I was in high school I could get up 4o minutes before I had to leave the house and do all the necessary things, get dressed and slide out of the door. At 60 I need an hour to an hour and a half to do the same things.
The body changes over time. Not all the changes are fun but most are inevitable. You can be upset but it won’t change anything.
I hate being called Miss Karen and other than the classroom where I think there needs to be a boundary, I just want to be called Karen, that’s my name. Okay so I hate that I look old enough to be called Miss Karen or anything else that serves as an age place marker.
I don’t like hearing my knees pop but I’m glad I can still walk on them.
It annoys me that people don’t believe that my hair isn’t dyed because I’m not gray. It’s in the genes for Pete’s sake.
But I have come to accept these things and truly I am happy every day when I get up. I look on each day with anticipation and though nothing earth shattering happens most days, that’s okay too.
Best of all I have accepted my journey as the one I am supposed to be on and good, bad or indifferent, I’ll keep moving forward as long as I can. Happy Friday!!
Happy Holidays – Be Thankful
Today begins the winter holiday season in the United States of America. If you ask ten people what Thanksgiving Day means you may get ten different answers. In 2011 for sure it is a day to reflect on what we have and be thankful for it all. Today, some did not get a special dinner and struggled to find shelter. The rest of us no matter how diminished our circumstances have plenty to be thankful for. Perhaps we can take the time to find a way to pay it forward and help those less fortunate. I make it my business to give a few dollars to the folks that I pass on the streets of New York on my walk to school. I put my clothing in the bins or drop them at a shelters so that someone else can use them. It ‘s not much but it’s what I can do now. Some times just a kind word can make a difference.
Between now and the New Year whatever your religion or tradition is take a little time to be thankful for people who are important in your lives. Remember to give a little to someone else no matter how small and oh yeah pray for me because thirty days of Christmas music on the radio is more than I can take.
Don’t Look Under the Bed and Other Advice I Ignore
I grew up a scary kid who loved the Twilight Zone and horror movies and then couldn’t sleep. My Dad built shelves for all of my dolls and they were right next to my bed. Under the bottom shelf was a dark space that (those of you who are old enough to remember the Twilight Zone episode) of course was the entrance to outer space. So very early on I learned to make sure that none of my limbs were out of the bed and preferably covered by at least a sheet. Also NEVER LOOK UNDER THE BED!!! Here I am at sixty, and I still have to sleep with at least a sheet. But I forgot the part about not looking under the bed.
So what do I mean? Sometimes as adults we aren’t satisfied until we find something wrong. We try to find something wrong our spouse has done, are suspect of our co-worker for no clear reason, are convinced that our kids are drug using, gun carrying bank robbers and that our boss has it in for us. In other words we are always looking under the bed. Now I am not suggesting that we should bury our heads in the sand but I wonder if some of us aren’t satisfied until we have proven that something must be wrong. The reason that we feel this way could have lots of causes and I am not analyzing anyone including myself. I am suggesting however that if you are constantly looking under the bed, let it go. Be observant but not overly suspicious. Look for the good in situations first. If there is a down side it will be revealed without your interference.
Give your self and the world a break. You may find that what ever is under the bed needs to stay there. If it floats out deal with it.
First Steps the Hardest 