Lately, it seems as if I've been going to too many funerals and/or hearing about too many CONTEMPORARIES (middle agers) having serious illnessnesses and disabilities. Of course, it's scary. It reminds me of the child's game, musical chairs. One by one, people are having to drop out of the game (of life) and one of these days, it will be my turn. After all, death really IS just a matter of taking turns, isn't it? For myself, working in the field of death and dying, I am only too aware of the shortness of life, but I actually love how it also keeps me aware, on a daily basis, of how valuable each and every moment is.
And I guess this is why it really irritates me when I see people, especially HEALTHY people, squandering this valuable GIFT of time and obsessing over unimportant things, like having another birthday (one friend said of her 65th birthday that she didn't even want to acknowledge it!) or wishing our arms or legs weren't so flabby, etc. I ran into an old acquaintance last weekend, close to my age, who was on a walker and I asked her what happened, thinking she had had a knee replacement or something). She had had her leg amputated!! I almost fell over from shock! Talk about knocking me upside the head with a reality check! I'm just as guilty as most of you and most of our society out there about wishing my aging body was youthful again- firm, tight, no cellulite, no flab, no wrinkles- but then I see so many wounded soldiers coming home as amputees, who WISH that they had arms or legs to get flabby, or I run into acquaintances who have immense physical challenges and I stop my whining........immediately!
One of the most common mantras I hear when people get "bad news" is, "Boy! That really put things in perspective. Things that I thought were so important, just aren't anymore." Come on, people! Let's not wait for bad news to wake us up. Let's set our own alarm clocks to jangle us awake everyday. And I don't mean an alarm with soft music, either, because that will just become background noise and you'll fall back into your reverie of sweating the small stuff. I suggest you get yourselves an alarm that blasts you awake, so that you CAN'T fall back to sleep! As we approach this holiday season of gift giving, let's realize that we possess the most important gift of all: life.
You've cried at weddings, right? At the birth of a baby? And, of course, you've probably cried at funerals, but have you ever stopped to wonder why both happy and sad events, make you so emotional? Even worse, do you often feel like you're the only one? I will impart wisdom gleaned from professional conferences, seminars, books and articles and/or I will blog my personal thoughts. Either way, I hope you check in often, so you know that your tears are never shed in a vacuum!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
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About Me
- Ms. Baby Boomer-dang
- Dallas, TX, United States
- I am an educator and consultant, in the field of loss and grief. I love educating others, as well as learning from them, about life's little and big, happy and sad losses: marriage, divorce, moving away, losing one's health, aging gracefully.....or not......death of a loved one, a pet, a dream, children growing up and parents having to let go, etc. etc. Hopefully, you get the picture. Let's laugh, cry and learn together!
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