Are you feeling wiser? (No, I am not asking if you’re feeling older!)
I am feeling wiser, and it feels good. Chances are you are too, for as baby boomers, we’ve had experience in the game of life and opportunities to reflect upon it all. It’s a human characteristic that we sometimes feel like we’re the only ones having “issues” at a given moment in time. We’re bombarded with media coverage of the rich, famous and more, whose lives sometimes seem like fairy tales until they, too, come crashing down right before our eyes.
Don’t know why, but in the past two years, I’ve reconnected with people I haven’t seen in 25 to 30 years. I can’t even believe I’m saying “25 to 30 years.” In the space of a couple of hours, we’ve rehashed our entire lives, reconstructed the time we spent together in (pick one) high school or college or a job. Although we may look different on the outside, we’re still the same inside. And we all have problems. No one is immune.
Family Tries
I don’t have children, but I do have a couple of cats. Inevitably, my friends share the triumphs and disappointments of their kids. One friend told me this week that her daughter is “disconnected” from reality, and that in spite of all the psychological tests, she holds little hope that the child will have a normal life.
Another is stressed over her son’s marriage to someone she really doesn’t like. And yet another is understandably worried about her daughter’s physical illness. Many have taken on caregiver responsibilities for their parents.
Everyone’s plate is emotionally full, “same as it ever was, same as it ever was,” though the subject matter is different. Utopia seems as elusive as ever.
Self-work
I’m working on my point of view, my “’tude.” I try to rate upsets rationally “on a scale of 1 to 10.” In other words, just how much am I going to let A or B or C upset me or consume my quality thought time? What can I do something about and what must I simply let go? And how long am I going to labor over a challenge before I say, “Ok. I’m done.”?
In my next decade, I want to do a better job of learning from my mistakes as I carve out a plan of action. And I want to remember that everyone “has their stuff ” in spite of how it may look from the outside. That’s why I’m continually working on what’s on my “inside.” It’s a work in progress.
Have a wonderful weekend. Go for your own gold.
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(Photo courtesy: © Dan Tataru | Dreamstime.com)