Carpe That Diem
I was talking with a good friend about life choices. What makes someone choose a writing life...or walk away from it?
Why do we turn left instead of right?
She had said that even when I walk away from something it's with the intent of walking toward something else.
That's very much true, especially now.
I'm not willing to do things I dislike anymore. Now that I'm retired from Corporate America, I'm entitled to do the things I love, the things I want to do, and to work with people who appreciate me.
Becoming seriously ill recently kind of cemented that for me too.
The other day we watched "Mary Poppins". I always look up the history of the players from old films. I like to see what had become of them. I was shocked to learn the little boy from the film, Matthew Garber died of pancreatitis at twenty-one. Twenty-One. That's so incredibly sad.
Some of us never get a chance to realize our dreams. Others never get started.
Not that there aren't good reasons and obstacles before you start your journey. For myself, some detours and roadblocks were made by my own 'border collie' mentality. "Never start something new until you've finished the old" is my motto.
Sometimes it's responsibility to family, or earning a living, or getting enough education before you can begin to follow your dreams. The important thing is to eek out a little happiness for yourself along the way.
As John Carter of Mars said...
Take up a cause, fall in love, write a book.
If you died one hour from now, what would you regret most?
PS I've regained some use of my hand but I still can't make a fist. Little steps, right?
***************
Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today. ~James Dean
Why do we turn left instead of right?
She had said that even when I walk away from something it's with the intent of walking toward something else.
That's very much true, especially now.
I'm not willing to do things I dislike anymore. Now that I'm retired from Corporate America, I'm entitled to do the things I love, the things I want to do, and to work with people who appreciate me.
Becoming seriously ill recently kind of cemented that for me too.
The other day we watched "Mary Poppins". I always look up the history of the players from old films. I like to see what had become of them. I was shocked to learn the little boy from the film, Matthew Garber died of pancreatitis at twenty-one. Twenty-One. That's so incredibly sad.
Some of us never get a chance to realize our dreams. Others never get started.
Not that there aren't good reasons and obstacles before you start your journey. For myself, some detours and roadblocks were made by my own 'border collie' mentality. "Never start something new until you've finished the old" is my motto.
Sometimes it's responsibility to family, or earning a living, or getting enough education before you can begin to follow your dreams. The important thing is to eek out a little happiness for yourself along the way.
As John Carter of Mars said...
Take up a cause, fall in love, write a book.
If you died one hour from now, what would you regret most?
PS I've regained some use of my hand but I still can't make a fist. Little steps, right?
***************
Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today. ~James Dean
Comments
Glad to hear your hand is coming along!
We often blame others or circumstances, but if we drill down, it's usually just us holding us back.
If you died one hour from now, what would you regret most? I never really got to know my dad, or was as kind to my mum as she deserved.
I've regained some use of my hand but I still can't make a fist. Little steps, right? But the prognosis is good, right? I'll be having words with the Big Man otherwise!
Re: hand
There's definite nerve damage. I hold my pen/brush a little more oddly than most, using my middle finger. Needless to say, I might have to retrain myself to hold a pen like everyone else now. :)
Greg, who had an injury like this with a table saw, said I'll get used to it. What choice do I have?
Glad to hear you're hand is on the mend. But be careful in retraining yourself to hold a pen. I remember holding the pen differently when I was learning shorthand (don't know why I did it, but it seemed to be easier to write that way) and ended up giving myself carpel tunnel! That's when I realized I wasn't cut out to be a secretary. Haha!
Maria you are right one step at a time and glad that at least you can use your hand, no matter how awkward it is to do so. The nerve damage in my dominant right hand has slowly taken a toll on using a pen period, my writing was always ugly now it is almost completely unreadable even by me.
As for regrets, I can say I don't have any, mostly because I reconciled a lot of things in my life as part of adjusting to my life as a divorced single mom.
I'm glad things are improving with your hand :-)
I think I would like to see my son a bit more settled before I passed, he's heading in the right direction, just hope he continues going that way :)
betty
Re: carpal tunnel
Good point. The reason I don't hold my pen like normal people is because I was forced to be right handed and that was the only way my 6-year old self could do it.
The nuns used to chastise me endlessly, but stopped when they noticed even with my crabbed hold of the pen I still had beautiful penmanship. The mind always finds a way to compensate.
Don't give it up yet.
What we leave behind is our testament.
Glad your hand's getting better, Maria. It's these out-of-nowhere accidents and injuries that put things in perspective.
You're the first person I'd visit if I went to Australia!
Re: accidents
I know. Who would've thunk it could get this bad? It's shocked even me.
If I died one hour from now, I will regret not having looked over my latest Powerpoint presentation to make sure there were no errors. lol
If I dropped dead in an hour I'd most regret not being able to be with my guy and kids any longer. Nothing else matters to me as much as them.
Re: Nothing else matters to me as much as them.
You definitely have your priorities in the right place. At the end I won't worry about vain legacies, but the people I leave behind.
Re: hand
I'm shocked how long it took to recover. It was a good reminder that I'm not invincible.