And so could you.
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| Image by Lothar Dieterich from Pixabay |
Trigger Warning: This column is rated SSC — Sexy Seasoned Citizens — Perusal by kids, callowyutes, or grups may result in a debilitating meltdown.
"The idea is to die young as late as possible." -Ashley Montagu
If you're still young enough to shrug off my headline/subheadline faster than a wet dog dances the wet-dog shake, good for you. I myself vaguely recall being immortal.
And yes, I know, that you know, that you're not — unless you're a transhumanist hoping to live long enough for someone(s) to figure out how you're going to live forever — actually immortal. But one's mortality is not something most people dwell on till they reach an impossible to predict tipping point.
And attempting to accurately portray how this is going to feel, and the implications, to someone that hasn't reached that stage yet is as pointless as trying to accurately portray just how brief a period of time their allotted threescore and ten actually is.
And anyway, this is as it should be.
{Why? And by the way, the actuaries have changed three score and ten to four score and gravy.}
For the same reason I still believe in true love... as well as Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, et al, Dana.
"Scratch a cynic and you will find a disappointed romantic." -Christopher Moore
"And that's all I have to say about that" -Forrest Gump
{Sheesh, have your Cancer cooties returned or something?}
"Nope, knock on wood," replied the author, gently tapping his prodigious noggin.
However,
Most geezers, geezerettes, and even many on the cusp of geezerhood are quite aware of their inevitable deletion. Some are obsessed, some embrace denial, most just keep their awareness in the box where they keep things they don't want or need to deal with on a daily basis but won't (or can't) toss in the trash.
Given that we're all born with a terminal disease I wish to point out that even the currently statistically fortunate should pause occasionally to contemplate the big picture.
{Your keen eye for the obvious is obvious. Is there a point to this melancholy rambling?}
Absabalutely. Given the undeniable fact that you could be dead any minute and eventually will definitely be, I have a question, what are you doing about it?
You've (hopefully) learned by now that your time is limited and that you can't have it all despite what all those articles, commercials, videos, etceteros claim. And if you just happen to have a former acquaintance that you haven't seen since they were an attractive, healthy, thirty-something who recently died at the age of 51...
{There it is. Now I get it.}
This sort of knowledge is a gift. So, are you gonna place this gift on a shelf with your other tchotchkes or get off your tuchus and act?
{Oy vey, it's the bucket list thing... Wait, are you familiar with the term cultural appropriation?}
No, it ain't. Yes, I am. No, it isn't. Cultural appropriation is mostly Wokie bonkercockie.
Bucket lists are about the pursuit of fulfilling dreams, fantasies, and elusive goals. Go for it. Just don't forget to apply the While Lying On My Death Bed test and also give a passing thought to the other kids you share the playground with, particularly the ones who share your DNA.
Big BUT, I'm talking about the day after your last day.
{Huh?}
It's been 24 hours or so since you shuffled off your mortal coil and you're sitting in a very comfortable chair while sipping on your favorite beverage and thinking about how you lived your life. Not necessarily about the sort of things found on a bucket list — ordinary, everyday sorts of stuff.
{No way! After you die you...}
Please stop poopin' on my metaphor.
You ask yourself, given what I had learned (often the hard way) about myself and life on Earth prior to being deleted had I consciously/deliberately tried to make the best use of my limited time once I grokked just how limited my time really was, that life often really is what happens to you while you're making other plans?
{YIKES! You're one of those Intentional Living people, are you selling a book, a membership, grooming cult members or...}
I apologize, I literally didn't know till just now when I googled the phrase living intentionally — that I picked up from I know not where, because wait a sec', that sounds like something from a book, a club, or a cult — that there's a veritable industry out there. Thanks, Dana, YIKES! indeed.
It's just that I've been trying to live intentionally for quite some time and now that I'm retired it's become an obsession. Maybe I should write a book, or start a...
Nah, never mind, I'll leave my Stickies and gentlereaders to figure it out for themselves. All ya gotta do is look your life straight in the eye and then act appropriately. Easy-peasy.
Poppa loves you,
Have an OK day
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