Choices

Living In Fear

Backstory

During the pandemic cloud, we were constantly required to make decisions. Older folks in particular knew that exposure could be fatal. There was reason to be scared. How did they cope?

Living In Fear

Explaining how he creates fear in his movie audiences, Alfred Hitchcock once said, “There is no terror in the bang, only the anticipation of it.” Even more so in real life, when there is a threat to your health and wellbeing.

The worst time is when you’re aware that something is wrong but you don’t know what. That time can go on for days, weeks, even months. It’s crushing. Fear stops everyone in their tracks. Whether it’s a new venture, a new task, or a new diagnosis, overcoming the fear can take you halfway to success.

With a medical alert, we tend to dash to the Internet for quick knowledge. You can find words that haunt and dire predictions and absolutely none may be applicable to your situation.

Also, when you’re enveloped in fear, you’re not listening well to the actual information from tests, examinations and medical personnel. If you don’t listen well, you can’t make the best decisions. And you will certainly confuse those around you who want to offer support.

So, the first step in any medical emergency – lose the fear. If it’s going to be bad, being fearful is not going to make it less bad. And if it’s going to be okay, worrying about it is time and effort wasted.

Easy? Not at all. But so necessary to get past the fear to a place where you can listen well, analyze reasonably, and make good decisions.

P.S.

An exercise to follow before beginning the process of the system of coping – Stop, Breathe, Consider, Verify, Act.

[Show #543]

Gone for the Rest of His Life

Backstory

I thought I knew him well, but I never saw this coming. We were business associates, and he was enthusiastic about our accomplishments. And then one day., he was no longer there.

Gone for the Rest of His Life

“Gone for the next chapter of my life.” That’s the message received if you sent him an email.

Two young men inherited the business from their father. They worked at it for over 20 years, built it up, made it a success. Then the older brother decided there was more to life.

There were so many things he still wanted to do, and learn, places to see, people he had yet to meet. He honestly felt that he could no longer stay in one place tied up in business responsibilities.

How fortunate to have a brother willing to take over with the leadership skills to continue the business on its successful path. So, he told colleagues and customers, “I am gone for the next chapter of my life.” What a rare option to choose. One not open to many and chosen by few.

What now? I wonder if he is hiking in the Himalayas, surfing off the beach in Hawaii, dispensing life saving polio vaccine on a Rotary mission to India. How did he decide what the next chapter of his life would encompass? Is he simply enjoying his garden, his woman, his grandchildren?

What would you do if you left your current life path to pursue the next chapter of your life? What a question to ponder.

P.S.

There is a belief that wherever you are and whatever you are doing at this moment is exactly as meant to be. It’s a decision that has been made by the universe. What happens if we have the courage to turn that decision upside down? To determine that your future is around a different curve. Consider the possibilities. He did, and never looked back.

[Show #411]

Just Another Day

Backstory – Just Another Day

Time. It’s something that should be consistent. Just 24 hours in each day and that’s that. Do the best with it you can. You get no more and no less.

But it’s NOT the same to everyone. Ask anyone under 10 years old whether time flies. They’ll probably tell you it wobbles at a snail’s pace.

I started thinking about how time moves at different speeds during different phases of your life. Surely every adult remembers how long the time was to Christmas or your next birthday. It just seemed to drag on.

Finally, you grow up and became a parent to one or more. That’s when time takes on the traits of a rocket. The space between wake up and tucked in goodnights passes at breakneck speed. Rarely do the day’s chores and obligations all reach completion. Time to think or plan becomes a luxury. Time alone, by yourself, is so precious that most of it is captured in the bathroom! You are constantly on call and forever busy.

Then comes the empty nesting period; the time when your grown children are on their own. They are making their own decisions and molding their own place in the world. Time starts to slow down as your work schedules curtail or ends and you retire from the employment scene.

The part that comes next may be hardest of all. This is when your decisions begin being questioned. Others may suggest that they know better, what’s best for you. The tragic part is – sometimes, they are right.

I was thinking about this catapult of change from one life phase to another when I wrote Just Another Day for Consider This. Please read or listen along and see what you think.

Consider This Show – Just Another Day

Click to listen or follow below to read.

Just another day. As a teenager, I can remember awakening with a sigh; it was about to become Just Another Day; one that would include studies and chores and meals and interaction with family members.

If I was really lucky, it might even include some alone time. I treasured those moments when I could think my own thoughts, rather than triggering responses to authorities or parents. I longed for adventure, travel, obstacles to overcome, goals to conquer. Instead, it was just another day.

Today, things are quite different. After six or more decades on this earth, I have been there, done that. Became wife and mother first to my own and then the grand kind of mother to theirs. Had a career, visited 48 of our 50 beautiful states and places beyond as well, been as much of a fashionista as I wanted to be, met and slayed the dragon, the monster, the enemy and the fool.

Today, my wish is for Just One More Day – to enjoy health and the beauty that surrounds us. Having friends and daily companion and family to love is quite enough. All I desire is One More Day to enjoy them all. And then one more, and perhaps one more after that.

There’s nothing I treasure more than the serenity of – Just Another Day.

[Show #631]