|
It was something Merril said yesterday that has stuck with me.
She was talking about the perceived “use by” of older people. Many seem to have the impression they are just waiting to die. Their best days are behind them, and it’s a young person’s world. I will never dispute there is a slowing down and a change of seasons in older age. Lifestyles can catch up with a person and issues that lay dormant can come to the fore. I grew up in North Queensland. It was almost a badge of honour to have the shirt off and almost ignore the sun. Oh precautions were taken, and sunscreen was applied. Yet I had no idea of the cumulative effect of the lifestyle I lived. Only now with numerous trips to get sun cancers cut out, can I see that maybe the way I lived was not such a good idea. Yet older age brings advantages too. Our church is full of older people. That can be seen as a disadvantage, and we are working on getting the balance right. These days younger ones are coming and staying. It was a comment from one that caused me to see this as an advantage rather than a disadvantage. There is a staying power associated with older people. Often they have “been there and done that” and learned from the experience. As is commonly said, experiences can make a person bitter or better and the difference is the “I.” It is good to talk to and associate with those made better by experience. Often they have gone through things I do well to avoid. Listening helps. I do not want to make all the mistakes there are to be made. I don’t need to. Older people can help younger ones avoid the unnecessary. Many older people have a wealth of helpful experience.
0 Comments
They say, “you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink.”
I was reminded of that this morning. We have a couple of blue Rosellas that have been visiting. We used to hear them, but see them rarely. Recently they seem to have discovered that there is a feed available at our place. We tend to put out food for them early. They are shy birds and defer to the Lorikeets and other birds. So we put out food for them early. This morning we did that and sure enough a blue Rosella turned up, but it seemed to spend most of its time looking around. Merril commented that he was missing out on the feast set before him. That made me think. I was reminded how so often I have all I need before me, but for what ever reason I miss it, being too concerned with what I see about me. A gift meant for me means nothing to me until it is received. For my birthday or Christmas my brother often jokes that something really expensive is in the mail. I know he is joking but a gift is meaningless to me until it is received and I take it. I wrap gifts and try to have something nice to say in a card. There is one lot of gifts I still have as covid hit at the time. I mean well, but those gifts mean nothing to the person they are intended for until they receive them. For me it is too easy to ask for something and be blind to the fact I already have it – perhaps in a form that I have failed to consider. Sometimes I need to do a job. It is a mistake to think I am in it alone. There can be help available, but I fail to see the wood for the trees. I am big on using what is available and exploring all options before I say I need something. Often what I need is already there. A gift for the taking. It is interesting to me how I have things on the wall and never really look at them. I have 3 pictures on the door to the hanging wardrobe, and I was really only aware of what one said. Until yesterday. I looked at the three wall pictures and sayings.
The one I look at regularly was a young girl enthralled in her phone sitting with what I think is a granddad who is just sitting there. The caption is something like “she is running out of time and doesn’t even know it.” I am so not against phone's but to me there is a time and a place for everything. I think that is a particularly sad image as it seems often it is easier to relate to a machine rather than a person. When I was younger I had no concept of life expectancy. It seemed that all would be always as it is. I know different now. Another saying I have on my wall is from a song. “there are just some things that numbers can’t measure – like matters of the heart.” That is one of the reasons I have difficulty sometimes with algorithms. To me they just measure actions based on an incomplete set of figures based on what has happened before. I do not think they take into account the heart. People can have a “change of heart.” Yet so often people can be disqualified based on previous actions rather than new actions that may have been in vogue for years. To that end I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. Sure I can get burned but I want people to believe in me, so it is reasonable for me to believe in others (based on criteria I set for myself). Current consistent actions tell me a lot more than previous actions. To me it is all about the fruit of a person’s life. The third saying I have on the wall is “I am not what I was, but I have never been what I am going to be.” The reason that means heaps to me is my past does not define me. I know I have made mistakes in the past and some were doozeys. I also know I will make others in the future (hopefully not doozeys) but I am a work in progress and I know things are on the improve. I am glad to have been reminded of these things. I guess that is why they were there in the first place. |
RSS Feed