Reality Knocks

‘The race is not always to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor satisfaction to the wise, Nor riches to the smart, Nor grace to the learned. Sooner or later bad luck hits us all.’ Ecclesiastes 9:11b - The Message Bible

I was tired, dragging myself through each day, from one activity to the next. When I went to my doctor, he sent me off for 2 different sets of blood work, only to proclaim after everything was in, that I was the proverbial picture of health. What!!!! I was hoping that my thyroid was out of whack, that my B12 levels were low that my iron was non-existence. Nothing wrong???? “It can’t be that you’re telling me I’m getting older can it?”, I asked. The half-grin on his face told me the answer, the answer I didn’t like and didn’t want!

We are just a few short days into another new year, a time when we traditionally take stock of our life and making some New Year’s Resolutions about things that we want to change to make it even better. Perhaps it’s getting more exercise, or eating healthier or getting more sleep. Whatever it is, the chances are that before the end of January we will be back living just the same way we were in December!

I actually was given something special by my doctor - an awareness of the passing of time, something that I could either look on as bad luck, leading to the inevitable end that we all face, or I could look on as a wakeup call to enjoy and appreciate the reality of my life as it is today - not as it was even 5 years ago! And so my New Year’s Resolution this year is not to change anything but rather to live into the reality of each day, to appreciate what I have, making the most of it while not trying to recapture what is past. In this society we are taught from childhood, that the busier we are, the more productive we are, the better it is. I will endeavour to spend each day doing only what I can comfortably accomplish, to enjoy living in the present without the pressure of feeling that there is more that I should be accomplishing. To help me get into this new mindset, I have started deliberately booking some free time each week on my calendar.

As the writer of Ecclesiastes says ‘Each day is God's gift. It's all you get in exchange for the hard work of staying alive. Make the most of each one! Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily! This is your last and only chance at it, For there's neither work to do nor thoughts to think in the company of the dead, where you're most certainly headed.’ [Ecclesiastes 9:9b-10 - The Message Bible] No matter what your age, take note of what the writer of Ecclesiastes says and reflect on what you are doing with your life.

’Old age, as such, is almost a complete changing of gears and engines from the first half of our lives…This process seems to operate largely unconsciously, although we jolt into consciousness now and then, and the awareness that you have been led, usually despite yourself, is experienced as deep gratitude that most would call happiness.’ Richard Rohr in ‘A Spring Within Us’, page 324

And this is what my doctor did for me!

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