May 11 2009
Renewed and Refreshed
So many things in life we begin, then lose interest in (at least I do), then discover again once we have been refreshed. I’m one of the most procrastinating people around (just ask my family), and once I get tired of doing something, there is no going back to it until my interest has been renewed. It may take days, months or sometimes years, but I usually go back to whatever it was, and make an attempt to finish or renew.
I was sick for a week (sinus infection) and it seems that the older I get (there’s that phrase again), the harder it is to get over. I used to go to work every day, head full of all the crud that jams up your head from eyeballs to throat; but now, I turn into a pitiful ball of mush and stay home on the couch. (This may be due to laziness instead of old age, but regardless of the excuse, I just can’t get moving.) After a week of coughing and hacking up something akin to furballs, I totally lost my voice. For someone who likes to talk as much as I do, that’s a real loss! (The family may not think so, but I do.)
I said all that to say this: I was feeling so badly that I almost broke down and went to the Doctor ~ which for me is a really last-ditch effort. One evening I felt so badly, even my breathing seemed too shallow, and I was beginning to think that God was going to call my number. I told him very frankly that I still had too much to do, and there are too many people depending on me, for me to take the exit ramp just yet. I promised that I would be a better person (don’t we always do that when we’re in trouble) and maybe stop bad-mouthing as much as I normally do. He must have accepted the agreement, cause I’m still here, (and I do intend to be a better person).
Now that the fog has cleared from my brain again, and the crud is almost gone from everywhere else, I feel renewed and refreshed. Why is it that humans have to get to the very bottom of their being, to see that everything is so much better at the heights? It’s like digging all the way down to your feet to find your soul and slowly dragging it all the way back up to your head. (I don’t know about you, but mine hangs around somewhere between my heart and head.)
Mother’s Day was a big help to making me feel better. Although my Mother is long gone, I stood in church with my daughter ~ who is also a mother ~ and accepted the beautiful red rose that was given to me by my granddaughter. The whole day was dedicated to Mothers, and upon leaving, I felt that I was a really useful person after-all. I guess you can say, I was renewed and refreshed.
Now the real challenge begins; to keep the promise that I made, and be a better person every day. If everyone, from the President to the homeless person on the street, would do this each day ~ decide to be a better person ~ we wouldn’t need all the wars, and divisions in government, and entertainment that only seeks to destroy our values.
“Babies don’t speak ~ neither do the dearly departed, but many of those laboring to make sense of life in between those two points have a lot of wisdom ~ and a little foolishness~ to share.”
