Today Is A Good Day To Be Alive!

At 8:30 AM this morning, after my ritual watching of “CBS Sunday Morning,” I started out for my morning walk.  It was cloudy and somewhat cooler than yesterday.  Not too long into my walk I began to experience some tightness in my chest and the telltale sponginess in my arms.  I began to think I should make an appointment with my doctor just to be sure all is well with my heart and circulatory system.

I crossed the street and as I continued my walk I noticed an elderly gentleman had also crossed the street and was walking toward me.  As I got closer I saw him steadying himself by holding on to a signpost and his cane.  I said to him as I approached, “We have to get out and do our walking, don’t we?”  He responded and I stopped to briefly chat. 

He mentioned that he was trying to build up to walking one mile.  He said he wanted to be able to walk to church.  Noting limited public transportation he said then he could walk to the grocery store a mile away.  But how would get back home with a bag of groceries?  I said I believed there was a community program that picks up folks with no transportation and encouraged him to look into it. 

Then I asked, “How old are you?”  “Ninety,” he responded.  I said, “I am 80,” and shrugged my shoulders in disbelief.  We chatted a bit longer about our longevity, I bid him a good day and parted.  As I walked away I noticed all the tightness in my chest was gone, my arms felt fine as well.  I said out loud as I walked, “This is a good day to be alive!”  I knew I had to write something about how I felt about this experience and prayed out loud again that I could accurately record these feelings.

So often when I have a strong emotional response to some event or experience, a stream of consciousness seems to flow eloquently through my mind.  Then, when I try to share it through writing I seldom seem to capture the intensity I first felt. 

 

There is something remarkable about realizing “This is a good day to be alive!”  So often we take for granted that just as the sun sets it will also rise.  Another day will come and another set of events and experiences.  Life is NOT something to take for granted.  We all know the day will come that the sun will still rise, but we will have moved on in the life beyond life.  For me, today means just a little more than it did before my walk.  I cherish the event that brought a stranger to me so I could touch the depth of living again.

May you also cherish this day for Today Is A Good Day To Be Alive!

Priorities Revisited

Some time ago I shared the following thoughts on this blog:

I don’t WANT to,

I don’t HAVE to,

YOU can’t MAKE me  . . .

I’M RETIRED!!!!

This feeling comes up almost every day when I turn on my computer, open the Internet and check my news feeds and then my blog.  If I haven’t posted an entry recently I begin to feel like I should!  Then I look to the poster on my wall and realize,

I don’t HAVE to!

The strange thing is, I really enjoy writing (when I think I have something to say).  Even stranger is the fact that some of the best writing I do is in those moments of twilight just before slipping off into dreamland, or before a nap, or even in meditation.  Unfortunately, most of those twilight experiences don’t make it to the printed form.  Instead, they drift off into the ethers of Universal Consciousness, perhaps to fall upon some unsuspecting person who recognizes an “Aha!” moment that is useful in some way.

We all have our roots of Being in that same Universal Consciousness that holds all that has ever been known and all that is unknown.  We all have access to whatever we need to know at any given moment.  When we learn that and begin to develop our own pathway into Universal Consciousness, we will discover priceless treasures of every kind.  From these roots of Being we will sense our vital connection with others.  We will discover deep feelings of love and acceptance—for others, and for ourselves.  We will realize that there is purpose in every part of our life, yes, even those strange times where there seems now to be nothing of value.

So, while I don’t HAVE to write, I always find that it enhances my own sense of being.  For me that is what is important. It is a priority because it puts me in touch with my Source. There is so much to learn, so much to enjoy in life and in our relationships with others that I want to take advantage of every opportunity to deepen my connection to the Source of being in which we all exist. 

I will write when Spirit moves me to do so.  I hope that somewhere within the words I share you will find a tidbit now and then that resonates within you in some special way.  I trust you will experience the treasures of health, happiness and well-being that await your discovery.

Maintaining the Body Infrastructure

In August 2008 I wrote a post on “The Infrastructure of Well-being” after a visit to my cardiologist’s office following the placement of a stent in my one remaining coronary artery around the heart. Yesterday I went for my one-year follow up and was pleased to find that my heart is still beating and the EKG showed no further problems. Seems like the blood is flowing to all parts of the body. Excellent!

It has been an interesting year since that hospital visit last July. I found myself faced with having to take specific steps to get off my duff and do some serious walking, bike riding and moderation to my diet. It was a struggle at first. My legs ached and my feet were sore. The good news was that I no longer had the stress in my arms that made them feel like water logged sponges. For the most part I maintained the exercise program and my twice-weekly aerobics class. However, I found myself tending to use excuses for not walking because it was too hot or too wet or . . . You know, don’t you, how easy it is to give up on something that seems to interfere with other things you want to do. I do faithfully attend my aerobics class because taking a class is one way I have found that is self-encouraging. I have an excellent instructor who is very well trained, especially in senior fitness. Also, I enjoy the others in the class all of whom sign up for every term and have since the class began several years ago.

Two weeks ago I needed some maintenance on my pickup. The shop I go to is in Tigard about five miles from where I live. I took the truck down, rode my bike back home (in the rain) and then rode it back again in the afternoon when the job was done. I am fortunate to have access to a wonderful park system that I could ride through for almost the whole trip. I had just a few blocks to go after I left the park.

After the riding experience I realized more clearly I had not been faithful to the maintenance of my own body infrastructure. I know I have to maintain my car so I do, but my body? Having been so healthy all my life I guess I figured it would just take care of itself. You would think I would know better—and I do. I simply had let excuses get in the way. I have just returned from my walk in the park today and decided I needed (for my benefit) to write this follow up to my story from last August.

I do not believe one needs to be a fanatic about taking care of oneself. I do think, especially as we age, that it is necessary to be more conscious of what we do to maintain our health. I also know that our emotional well-being plays a large part in how seriously we make the effort to take care of ourselves. For the year leading up to my operation, I really didn’t care much about anything. I had enough on my mind to just work through an emotional malaise that permeated almost everything in my life. The operation was a wake up call to decide whether I wanted to continue the not caring or whether I wanted to change my focus and determine to live, not simply exist taking up space, but live with purpose and enthusiasm.

That decision was a turning point that gave me a new outlook and some specific opportunities to enjoy my life. A special book[1] came to me that seemed written just for me. I have heard people say things like that many times, but this time I was saying and meaning it. After reading it three times, I found new answers to my questions each time. Subsequently, I attended a weekend workshop in Denver, based on the book, that furthered my effort to regain my balance physically and spiritually. (Go here to read my review.) I know what I experienced was personal and would not necessarily reflect how others might respond. What was important for me, though, was that it worked. It is much easier for me to stay on task with my interest in living and writing. I believe that my present course is assisting me blend my inner/outer self and bring mental/emotional balance.

Other books and articles have also found their way to me, always at just the right time. I took time out to return to the ocean where so much renewal takes place for me. In short, I got off my duff and took charge of my life again. Our lives will be profoundly blessed as we determine to consciously care about life, about our family and friends. I have found a new appreciation for old friends and new friends. They give me reasons to get up in the morning and want to “reach out and touch someone!” It seems the experience is reciprocal, because I find them reaching out to touch me too. All of these experiences are part of maintaining our body infrastructure. The body is only as healthy as its mental/emotional equivalent and that is something that is entirely within our direction.

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1 - The Matter Of Mind, by Djwhal Khul, through Kathlyn Kingdon