I can no more fathom the fact of my age than I can make my cats come when I call them. That seems to be where the years have gone; like my cats, they are out of sight until they want to be seen... at meal time. My years, though, are pretty much out of sight until I get up in the morning; then my body feels every minute of my 57 years.
No major complaint, just a fact. There's good things about growing older... and some bad. Beyond diet, exercise, and rest I can't do much about the fact the I am not a kid anymore. What I can do is take advantage of the perspective that a person may gain by surviving long enough. I heard somewhere that the difference between wisdom and enlightenment is that wisdom is what you learn from your own mistakes and that enlightenment is what you learn from the mistakes of others. I may be growing wiser, but I have not yet quite grasp that enlightenment business.
I've been, at times (sometimes all the at the same time) a dreamer, a druggie, and a drunk. What I have not been, but rarely, is decisive. Nor have I ever remained particularly focused. Having gotten passed the drugs and toning the drinking down to a little beer once in a while to take the edge off, I am still a somewhat of a dreamer.
What I have learned about my dreaming is that it puts my mind out in some nebulous could-be place that is only vaguely connected with my present. So what do you do when you are only focused on the present just enough to keep yourself fed and the rent paid? You "go with the flow." Like aging, going with the flow has some good points and some bad points.
On the good side, I have a wealth of experience. Places, jobs, people, productive processes, different ways to live, and different ways to believe. Grist for the mill if you will. On the bad side, going with the flow can end you up in the rapids and over the waterfall: wet, bruised and battered, and, with luck, beached. And flat ass broke.
That's what being 57 and unemployed is like. Beached, washed up on the shore, castaway. Ageism may illegal, but it's a fact. If you think it is not, wait until you are in your fifties, get laid-off, and then try to find work in a shaky economy. The way I have gone with the flow has landed my where I am, but it has also equipped me to deal with it. I know how to do a great deal. What I can not afford to hire done, I can do for myself. I am not without hope.
But to wrap up this post and get on with scrapping together a few bucks: Go with the flow? Bah! Get your head out of the posterior region of your anatomy and pay attention to what you are doing with your life. Focus on something you are good at. And save your money.
No major complaint, just a fact. There's good things about growing older... and some bad. Beyond diet, exercise, and rest I can't do much about the fact the I am not a kid anymore. What I can do is take advantage of the perspective that a person may gain by surviving long enough. I heard somewhere that the difference between wisdom and enlightenment is that wisdom is what you learn from your own mistakes and that enlightenment is what you learn from the mistakes of others. I may be growing wiser, but I have not yet quite grasp that enlightenment business.
I've been, at times (sometimes all the at the same time) a dreamer, a druggie, and a drunk. What I have not been, but rarely, is decisive. Nor have I ever remained particularly focused. Having gotten passed the drugs and toning the drinking down to a little beer once in a while to take the edge off, I am still a somewhat of a dreamer.
What I have learned about my dreaming is that it puts my mind out in some nebulous could-be place that is only vaguely connected with my present. So what do you do when you are only focused on the present just enough to keep yourself fed and the rent paid? You "go with the flow." Like aging, going with the flow has some good points and some bad points.
On the good side, I have a wealth of experience. Places, jobs, people, productive processes, different ways to live, and different ways to believe. Grist for the mill if you will. On the bad side, going with the flow can end you up in the rapids and over the waterfall: wet, bruised and battered, and, with luck, beached. And flat ass broke.
That's what being 57 and unemployed is like. Beached, washed up on the shore, castaway. Ageism may illegal, but it's a fact. If you think it is not, wait until you are in your fifties, get laid-off, and then try to find work in a shaky economy. The way I have gone with the flow has landed my where I am, but it has also equipped me to deal with it. I know how to do a great deal. What I can not afford to hire done, I can do for myself. I am not without hope.
But to wrap up this post and get on with scrapping together a few bucks: Go with the flow? Bah! Get your head out of the posterior region of your anatomy and pay attention to what you are doing with your life. Focus on something you are good at. And save your money.
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