Every now and then reality hits some of us very hard. Only yesterday you saw your neighbor or friend and today you hear he/she has vito excedo, passed on. Of course that is something that we must all do someday, whether we have prepared for it or not, we are born to die. But the question may be what can we do while we are waiting for the inevitable. Some people may never think about ‘life and living’ in their lifetime. I am no philosopher and can only speak to my own ‘situation’ and maybe share some observations and experiences from my life’s journey up to this point. Some people spend more time planning the future than trying to live in the present, and it is usually too late when they wake up and realize that they missed living in the present only after it has become the past. I hope that all my friends can spend their time wisely living to the max in the present because that determines the future and nothing else.
Some people may have difficulty accepting the concept of living in the present, but it is what we do, and we are doing now. Think about it. Where are you now? In the past, present or future? You are right, the present. This is the present and what you do with and in it now will determine the future. Real simple isn’t it? What happens tomorrow is a result of what you do today. Where you are today is a result of what you did yesterday. So you do have some measure of control over your future. You don’t know when your number will be called up on the big computer upstairs so maybe you should live today like it is your last and do the best you can for yourself and the rest of us. This does not mean that you should try anything and everything once, as some folks believe. Even if it adds value to your life, but it is your call. Your free will and choice.
There are only 2 states to our life. Asleep or awake. And the scientists can tell us how to get the most benefit from both. Since it is our life we are free to try a few things with it and of course take the responsibility for the outcome. Personal hygiene is a must and we always smell sweet, but maybe some us need to read the label on some of the products that we use and also do research on the manufacturers, lest we become like guinea pigs or lab rats. Your skin is one of your organs and you have to care for it just like your heart, lungs, liver, kidney, etc. So watch it. What we eat is critical to our longevity, survival, if you will, but people seem to pay less regard to this. I am no nutritionist but I am trying to rationalize the quote " Eat breakfast like a king, eat lunch like a prince and eat dinner like a pauper" as it pertains to health and fitness.
I see some of my friends getting bigger especially around the waistline and that is because they are not eating breakfast, lunch nor dinner in accordance with the quote above. It is hard to eat dinner like a pauper, especially for the affluent. And this is where you have to decide if you will run your life from your heart or your brains. I do not know if there is any scientific data correlating affluence, gray matter and brain cells, but sometimes we seem to disregard information, data and knowledge that would keep us healthy, as in being alive longer, just to satisfy an insatiable urge to stimulate our taste buds and palate, just one more time. Mind you, there is not a whole lot of wrong with this if it is done in moderation, according to the written wisdom, or if we desist from the foods that were designated as NOT TO BE EATEN. In case you have forgotten, update your memory with Deuteronomy Chapter 14, KJV. And if you need the scientific proof, search Google.
Water may be even more important than food because three quarters of your body is water based. The scientist says we should drink a certain volume of water daily but many of us do not heed that advise. And we suffer the consequences. Search Google for water and health and get your act together. While you are searching Google for water read up on bottled water quality and see if you will continue to drink our bottled water or you will be led to manufacture your own drinking water. St Kitts is blessed with natural water sources but water is imported and bottled for local consumption. Maybe it is just a lack of knowledge on our part that reselling water is now big business. I have nothing against the water resellers but our population need to know the truth about bottled drinking water and how they can have their own ‘purified drinking water’ for pennies rather than dollars. I guess that we do not have a consumer protection or similar agency here yet so our people will continue to get exploited legally or otherwise.
Work provides some of us with all the exercise that we get. In some cases the exercise may be enough but in more cases it is not. Driving and walking to and from lunch, if you leave the office compound at all, is not the level of exercise that the body needs daily. You can read all about exercise on Google so I will not comment, suffice to say that if your don’t get with the exercise program, you loose. In the simplest form, take a daily walk around you village, down your street and back home, once, or twice. As you get more comfortable 3 and 4 times, then 5 and 6, and gradually increase until it is a habit and you can’t do without it. You will learn something about youth again, and then you may agree with Slinger Francisco that "age is just a number". Life is an uphill and downhill ride. You alone determine when your life starts on the downhill run. Some people start the down hill run as early as 25 years of age, others at 65 plus. It is entirely up to you, your mental, spiritual and physical well being are the determinants here. But many of us are so taken up with our supposedly personal lifestyle, which most times emulate "our idol" that we do not recognize the ‘slow, curve up ahead’ or ‘slow down’ signs on our downhill racetrack. I believe that our time is best spent going uphill until we reach the clouds. Going down hill should no be on our agenda.
AS you get older it is from home to work and home again. Marriage adds another dimension to your life and if you do not have the right mindset, it can shorten you life, fast, really fast. Some lucky persons get out of their ‘reality’. Marriage is cool if you run it on mutual respect and agape love. Some concept, but think about it. Anger is the one element that causes disruption in everything. If you can kill that trait you are off to a good start. in life. I have come to appreciate everybody for who they are. Not physically but spiritually. You have to learn to see and reach beyond the facades people create. It is just the way all life is and if you do not seek self development, you will be just like another crab in the barrel, stomping and being stomped. Anyway, between home-work-home you must have time for yourself. Personal time. That is where a legitimate hobby or pastime comes in handy. Legitimate because it should not get you into any ‘trouble’. Let me explain. If fishing is your hobby you can go by yourself or pick up a girl friend or a chick on the way. Carrying the lady friend will cause trouble at some time in the future, because someone will make it their duty to report it to the wife or the main squeeze, with the usual added embellishments, whether they actually saw you or not. It is just the way life is. So stay legal and avoid the stress. It is not worth it, and it only helps you to go downhill faster. The classic is when you and the main squeeze go fishing and later someone calls her to report that you and some chick, bird or bat was out fishing on the rocks …. boy, how fast can they get. And because she is a true lady she is not going to tell them it was she, but she will encourage them to continue being a good watch dog. This is the nature of life.
What you do in your personal spare time should add some value to your life. You should get a kick out of it. It should be fun and you should feel the achievement. You may not even require egoistical recognition, because you are doing it for free, for the rest of us and not for your personal aggrandizement.
A hobby is essential. Get one. Revive any old hobbies , irrespectively. If it is girl watching but you are now married or going steady, you may have to readjust that to watching something else. Spend quality time with yourself, it is all that you will ever have and own. Mental health and wellness is the key.
**************************************************
The above content is also published at my new blogspot
Keeth France - V44KF: "Speak Now ... or Forever Hold Your Peace" 