Monday Observations

This morning was a fairly typical beginning of the week. I’m looking to get organized for the next seven days, and I’m brimming with insights.

1.  I’ve Become My Father – No lie, I remember when I was much younger, I saw my father entering into “old fogeyness” (if that’s not a word it should be!) It seemed to me he railed against everything new and, in my opinion, exciting. Whereas all my life we’d enjoyed the same music, now he thought Elvis Presley was too loud and vulgar. Not only that, but his conversations were peppered with phrases like, “Well when I was young . . .”; “In my day we were more . . . ” and similar observations. I think he would love being here now to see me uttering the same phrases. (By the way, have any of you noticed how poorly behaved children are these days? Why in my day . . . )

2.  In the same vein, if I were a person who texted and drove at the same time, I could have killed several people this past weekend. No kidding! Even adults don’t look where they’re going anymore! Yesterday, My Dear One and I were off to get an ice cream concoction. As we approached a parking place, a woman and her two children emerged from a row of parked cars and walked directly into our path. The children eyed us lazily, but the mom was too busy texting to even realize a car was approaching. None of them stopped, of course, and continued on into the path of our car. She obviously assumed if there was a car approaching, it would stop for her (which, naturally, we did.) But it still annoys me. Why is it not her responsibility to watch out for herself, and more important, for her children. This doesn’t even touch the subject of what she’s teaching her kids by NOT teaching them self responsibility.

3.  This morning I saw golden leaves on the ground when we went for a walk. I try to pretend summer will last a little longer, but when the trees start shedding their foliage, I have to face facts. I also have to realize there are only three more months left in 2013. That means the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is just days away. That, to me, seems incredible. Where did the year go? It’s joined all those many others I lost track of. Why oh why is it that the days, weeks, and years go by so quickly when you are entering your twilight time. I remember vividly how long it took the first 20 years of my life to pass. I wanted to be a grown-up so bad I thought I’d never reach that magic age. Now I look back and wonder how it got away from me so fast.

4.   Have you ever noticed how much more you treasure your friends the older you get? I have friends I’ve known since I was 12 years old, and they mean even more to me now than they did then. I suspect it’s partially because we all survived this long when we never thought we would. And the friends I’ve made in later life I treasure for different reasons. They came to know me after I was “formed” and don’t remember how raw I was as a new model human. These friends accept me for who I was when they met me, and who I’ve become in the years since. They keep me grounded. All I know is I could do without a lot of “things” but I couldn’t survive without my friends!

5.  And here’s another of my recent observations: just when you think you’ll probably not change any more, or that you won’t learn anything new, you do. I’ve learned more in the last year, I suppose, than I have in the last five. That seems rather backwards to me, but there you have it. If you are willing, you can learn new things. It might not come as easily as before, but it can happen. You can also change yourself if that’s what you want to do. You can reevaluate old beliefs and the restrictions you’ve put on yourself. Then you can embark on a journey of personal development. You may not achieve the original goal, but you’ll learn something along the way, and you may even reach a goal. As with so many things, the key is to set the goal in the first place and just keep going.

I think that’s about enough for one day. I have the entire week to get through!