October 22, 2025
Time marches on, even if the
elderly among us can’t quite manage a march anymore. Everything is relative.
Therefore, I consider myself lucky if I can simply make my way around the house
and out to the car.
I used to ask for patience in
my prayers every day. I don’t so much anymore because I have finally learned a
bit more patience from life itself. Patience is the natural outcome when you’re
a turtle in a pack of hares.
The important part, in my
estimation, is that I do manage to get around and out to the car. I use my
walker a bit more than I used to, and that’s okay, too. Most places I need to
go, either my cane or the walker are good enough. Some stores, of course, have
electric carts for their customers and that’s a blessing.
If I’m heading out with my
daughter, she happily assembles my own three-wheeled scooter for me. I don’t
have the strength to do that myself, and never really have. But regardless, I
still consider myself independent. I am capable of, and often do head out to
our local grocery store on my own to pick up a few things when needed. I can go
for a drive, put gas in my car, and walk into any restaurant if I choose to do
so.
I’m not as fast as I used to be
in anything. My mind is still reasonably sharp, but I do sometimes have to hunt
for a word or a name. My reasoning is sound even if my memory isn’t what it
was. I don’t think I ever had any idea of all the ways that getting older could
affect a person. I’m finding out now, and I can honestly say that getting old
truly isn’t for the faint of heart.
But it is natural, so it
really is just another case of mind over matter. I’ve decided my best course is
to accept reality and then get on with it.
The hardest part of aging, of
course, is coming to terms with the changes in our physical abilities. It’s
hard to accept that one is no longer able to do as many or as much as one used
to. Physical tasks become a challenge because body strength and endurance do decrease
with age. Not that many years ago I was able to clean my house—every room—over the
course of a few hours in the morning. Ah, the good old days.
Now, I content myself with being
able to do a few chores around the house each day. There’s a lot of sitting
involved in this process. Therefore, I incorporated sitting into the program. I
stand to do the dishes but sit to put most of them away. And when it comes time
to sweep the floor? With broom in hand and sitting on my office chair-turned kitchen
chair (for the wheels) I move around the kitchen and sweep. And do a damn fine
job of it.
I wanted wheeled chairs for
the kitchen. We had large and fairly heavy chairs around the table, and it was
hard for me to “scoot” my chair closer to the table. That said, I was not
willing to pay three or four hundred dollars a piece for the privilege of new
wheeled kitchen chairs. Then I saw some inexpensive “office chairs” online and
thought: perfect! After all, the defining feature I wanted in a kitchen chair other
than a seat was wheels. Who cares about fancy décor? Our first set of chairs cost
only thirty-five dollars each (on sale) and lasted three years before they
needed to be replaced.
But I digress.
The important thing is that
regardless of age and stamina, I need to keep moving.
I do make my bed most days. My
reason for this is selfish. I love climbing into a well-made bed each night.
Since it is one of my pleasures in life, I see no reason not to enjoy the experience
as often as possible.
Accepting reality means that I
acknowledge that there are days when not much gets done by yours truly. But I
always content my self by vowing that I will do better the next day. I will
keep moving. I will not quit.
For us humans, getting through
and getting by has always been a matter, primarily, of our attitude. All
through my life there have been times when I’ve needed to improvise, adapt, and
overcome. That oft-quoted principle came in handy when I was a young mother
raising three children. It is no less germane now that I’m over seventy. It
worked then and it works now.
Take another step when you
think you can’t. Move another few inches when you think you may be done.
Whether you believe you’ve got
this, or you believe you’re beat, you’re right! Because it’s really always been
a matter of choice. Your choice.
Choose to keep going.
Love,
Morgan
http://www.bookstrand.com/morgan-ashbury
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