Birthdays Dwelling in Possibilities

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You are four years from seventy. Your upper lip looks like a fine-tooth comb, your forehead is like a wrinkled sheet, your skin is blotched like a fishnet stocking, you are as dry as the Sahara desert and you have hardware mounted in your mouth for teeth. It doesn’t get better than that as the day goes on. It is unsettling.

Birthdays can be a day of celebration of the year you had or the year you are anticipating. Or a day of absolute self-pity for what you did not have and will not have as you age. And that, my friend, is where we have the choice to look at our wrinkles as something to live with or iron out.  It is easier to live with the self-pity than sit up straight and pretend things are good. Spin it happy and you can try that optimistic philosophy, but it doesn’t always work with Birthdays. Birthdays bring up pasts, presents and futures. Sometimes they just do not bring up happy. And throwing a full-fledged pity party is the best option on the table with antipasto and adult beverages. Do not hold back on the punch of impact you want this party to produce.

The spirit in which you want this pity party to take on is a full-fledged one of hopelessness and despair for getting old and looking like a wrung-out dishrag. Dwelling on all the regrets and should of, could of, and I should haven’t scenarios can keep your party rolling for a while. Stock up on supplies. The regrets, the should of and the could of are like pebbles in a running riverbed. Too many to count and washed over with too much running water to remember them all. Now you say, Stop, it could not be all that bad. Could it be? Really to throw a pity party? Growing old isn’t like a wrung-out dishrag. Regrets and should of, could of are not that plentiful. There truly must be a spirit of joy and appreciation for living a full life as we age, even with physical limitations and aging factors. There probably is another side. A kinder way to look at growing old. Growing gracefully with an ageless soul. When you look at your face, your body, and your mind, you see wisdom in the wrinkled forehead and knowledge from the upper lip. And sweet memories shared of friendships forged throughout the years like pebbles in a riverbed. There is still youthfulness in those memories. Still more joy and desires are being felt every day for the first time. There is more to come as we age. Whether our bodies go with us is another story. That’s the catch. The disconnect. But, overall, the day started off with a grand plan of a gusto pity party. And looped around to a realization that I could survive growing old. So, I guess the pity party is too harsh for me to really throw this year. However, I was really feeling it at the beginning of this day. But as I thought about it. I have experienced much joy, kindness, and gratitude on my journey of sixty-six years; my passive teeth, static hearing and dishrag body will have to accept with silence, peace, joy, and much gratitude for that part of the trip. The pity party is on hold. The party’s refreshments are now being used for a gratitude gathering. We will try day by day to be joyful. But it won’t be easy and sometimes not fun. But Happy Birthday. Until next year. 

https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/book-reviews/view/28450/ageless-soul

Ageless Soul by Thomas Moore

https://thomasmooresoul.com/books/

I do not know this bookstore, but I know this book. It is interesting regarding aging. 

 

What do you think about a white lie? —Friends Dwelling

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The little White lie. They were used a little more than usual today. I admit I use them. They are ambiguous and subtle, and calm. They can be like a smooth river rock thrown so perfectly, causing small ripples of abuse to our spirit, but we should not be abused. The truth is we all do it. We use the White lie.  The question is “how do we manage it in our lives?”

White lies are needed in our communication with others, from strangers on the street to family members to lovers and friends. Do not let the White Lies be abusive to your spirit. They are part of communicating. But not a necessity. We always have a choice.

Through a mindful process, ask yourself —- will this White lie be beneficial? Harmless? Will I hurt anybody? Could I tell the truth? Do I want to tell the truth? Will it be a gracious gesture? Why? Who? 

What do you think about White lies? I know how I live with them. How do you?

white lies in dictionary – Bing

White Lie | Definition of White Lie by Merriam-Webster (merriam-webster.com)

 

Twenty Seconds

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So, when did our watches become our moms?

I was washing my hands the other day. Singing the birthday song for the length of duration for safety measures.

The next thing, I feel while drying off, is a buzz on my wrist from my handy, dandy Apple watch. Always a partner in all my activities. Was there ever a time without one?

Buzz. Buzz. Again. I looked at my watch and in the face was a circle where letters spelled out — Well Done. I thought; well done for what? How my steak is to be served? My nickel to be deposited? More than 10,000 steps recorded?

Well Done was followed by, “You have washed your hands for the recommended amount of 20 seconds. Well Done.”

MY WATCH had been programmed (sometime in the middle of the night) to ensure my hands are being washed properly, in this world of germ-to-germ warfare.

And, I thought did Apple have a Mommie focus group?

Can’t you just hear it; if it could speak? The watch saying, “Did you wash your hands? Did you use soap? Hot water? Under those nails, young lady. Can’t eat dinner until you do?

You can program your semi-A.I.’s to make those sounds aloud. I call them sounds because the words over the years have bled together. For you, it could be a sweet-sounding melody filling at a crux of fond memories. For others, like I said words bleeding into each other.

No matter where this plus twenty seconds takes you. The sad fact stands — MY WATCH is telling me that I have washed my hands correctly in 20 seconds. Mom dialed in for the occasion.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/hand-washing/art-20046253

https://atomic-temporary-22701333.wpcomstaging.com/2021/02/27/https-pfeifferfit-com/

 

Imploding — INWARD

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I have been using the word imploding to describe what is going on in the world for a few (maybe longer) months now.

And do I feel it myself, I see it everywhere around me, through me, and about me. The about me is the one that makes me sad, scared, and dangerous.

Imploding, the word, is defined in some ways as bursting from within or exploding from the inside, to become greatly reduced as if from collapsing inwardly.

Collapsing, bursting, exploding. INWARD.

The year we just had was a year of isolation. A year of being inside. A year of distance. A year of remote connections that were dangling in the airwaves. A year that asked us to be INWARD.

Here we are at the backdoor to last year. Coming out with a toe in the water. Not knowing what to do with the imploding that is happening. The excruciating pain of imploding because we were exposed to the emotions of looking INWARD. That was uncomfortable, you say?

This imploding happening now is from the time spent alone. Time that was for reflection in a crisis. Time that was null and void for true physical connection. Tossed around were the words, confine, distancing, mask, no socializing, stay home. Stop everything you know. Stop looking outside. Draw those curtains.

You might think I am rambling. Well, I am. This last year has done me under. I was extremely sick. I felt like a smashed scarecrow on fire for months. The focus was INWARD. The building of the looking inside of me had started. As I mentioned before the emotions and actions of imploding overcame me. I became sad, irritable, scared, and dangerous.

Sad because sickness makes you so helpless and so careless. You think I can beat this. Two weeks later you carelessly declutter rooms in your house. And sickness consumes you. Resilience is nowhere to be found. That is the saddest thing.

Irritable because you are only thinking about yourself. Yes, we all had the moments where it was us – ourselves we worried about, however, fleeting. You become like a bad red rash. Everything is bothersome to you—YOU. That makes me cranky because I don’t want to think only of myself. But I can’t help it.

Scared because there was dying involved in this imploding. Scared for me that dying was a card left on the table. I was only thinking about myself. I was scared that I would never return to my old self or just never return.

Dangerous because there was bitterness growing; the old self was fading. Something new was rearing its head. I could be very mean. I could be unappreciative. I can be ruthless. I could not be me. I could hurt people. That is a dangerous place to be — hurting people.

Imploding for me has been like a kaleidoscope with bursting energetic colors. The imploding that is going on all around, through, and about will turn into healing as we walk out the front door of this year.

Did you think this would take a dark turn? A Pollyanna twist? A sci-fi cloning story? Now, I am being silly. Oh, that’s great. That’s something I haven’t done for a while.

How is your imploding going?

https://www.yourdictionary.com/implode

https://wp.me/p1xfEx-4D

 

Love Your World

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ABOUT

Edit“About”

Love Your World wants to connect the positive energy that is out there amongst women and spread it around our world. Be safe. Stay healthy. Remain joyful. Have the intent to do good. And, — always Love Your World.

Love Your World is where you can talk, share, grow and dwell in possibilities among friends. Creating new connections, pondering new questions, finding out answers all in a space that is padded with passion and joy by all that visit and share.

We want to learn how to take any space around us and create our stories. Share our stories; in any safe space, we inhabit. Be it your room you tag as a sanctuary, your home, your car, or any area you fill with you.

Love Your World wants to meet new friends, create new stories, hear past memories, discuss age-old questions, and lead us to love the space wherever that is. Even in line at the supermarket. It’s not always about surrounding yourself with the stuff you collect that bring you contentment, it’s about loving and sharing the space you fill while standing innocently at a corner of a crosswalk.

Learn to Love Your World, wherever that might be. Do it with Friends. Let’s get started with whatever is on your mind. Let’s fill up the World with Love.