Decisions… More Difficult!

SAT., JUNE 30, 2001, 3:23 PM
FARM, STUDY

Yes, o son, you struggled with the decision… to go or not go to Champaign to join in remembering the life of your friend, Bill. You would like to be part of the group you expect will gather, but you also are less enthused about and more reluctant about leaving this place… going anywhere, even for a “good cause.” Your son John Patrick was willing to drive you up there, and you appreciated that offer, but you also feel that he needs to be with his family, as much as possible before he begins “yet another career.”

So… decisions of this sort will continue to be difficult. Oh, you can think back and remember how “easy” it seemed to be to go off to a conference… make a presentation, somewhere away… do all that that you did with the S.H.E.S. But now the “thrill” of learning to “do something different” is virtually gone, but “should you’s” requires consideration.

You enjoy what you do here. The “required” tasks are just about right for your age and body condition… and you do want to maintain some muscle tone, strength, and “capacities.” So, it is easier to turn down invitations for participation. What you once did, quite willingly, even excitedly, just doesn’t “turn you on,” as was the case, in your younger years.

You did enjoy participating rather actively in Lynda’s prospectus meeting yesterday. You were well prepared (for a retiree), and your questions and comments were quite appropriate. You haven’t “lost it” yet! Will there be any others, such as this? Perhaps… yes… or no.

You don’t want to seem “selfish” and unwilling to participate in some ways that you still can. You realize that “if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it”… at your age and with your obvious losses. But you also realize that you’re developing another, more appropriate life-style. Simply put: less activity and more contemplation. As I told you, it won’t be an easy “transition,” but it will be more “natural” than it would have been in earlier years.

So… recognize that the difficulty in decision-making rests in “should I interrupt My quite life, for something I ‘once did’?” You should be dedicated to Bible Study on Thursday morning and church worship service and fellowship on Sunday. I want you to hear Me and write 3 or 4 times a week (or more) and to write and send out Our Ruminations 3 or 4 times a year (and you’re getting later and later with this one!)

Be a bit more discerning about television programs that are your “evening fair.” Your current selections are a bit heavy on crime and other undesirable behavior. Don’t limit yourself to “what’s on”… with the range of tapes that you have here… plus possible rentals.

There is no need for you to start “scheduling” yourself with “lists”, as in your working years. But you do need to keep this room neater and not let it reach this “piled up” condition. I know this requires decisions, and many of these are not easy for you… but you don’t like this “mess” any more than I do.

You realize that your parents were older than you are now when they moved to Hawaii and settled into a simpler life. But you needn’t feel “guilty” or otherwise uncomfortable if you feel like being less of a “traveler,” at a younger age. You will not live as long as they did, so you’re “entitled” to less traveling as you are now into what will be your “older age.”

There are “trade-offs” in earth life. Your body is working less and less well BUT there’s less that you have to do, with that body. Things that you want to do take more time, BUT you have more “undesignated” time. There are some things you should push yourself to do, and you’ll have to decide… which is which?