Another Decade? Yep!

A NEW DECADE, NEW RULES TO LIVE BY

Just as though it wasn’t even noticeable, I just turned 81. That’s 81 years old. I did. Yes, me! I’m 81! Rushing headlong into my 9th decade of moving around on this earth, I can’t help but wonder how long this will continue. I’ve been asked by my heart doctor how long I want to live (as though he had an aging dial to twist over to the exact number of years I wanted.) Being sort of taken aback by the question, I came out with a smart-aleck answer, “411 years,” I said. He ignored the idiocy of the answer because he had pre-wired himself to give me a pitch, not for taking better care of myself, but for his latest chemical compilation to be sold once per year at some ridiculous price. The pitch didn’t work, but the thoughts continue and will, no doubt, influence the way I think about my longevity.

Since I am 100% not in charge of that final day when I lay down only to rise when The Lord Jesus Christ (himself) calls my name—see 1 Thess.4:16—I hope my management of these next days, weeks, months, years, decades will be improved by thoughtful preparation and supple availability of all the help (products and peoples alike) I need. It starts with me, of course. First thing comes to mind is diet, next would be rest and sleep, then, the proper amount of activity (work and/or exercise), then sustaining mental acuity. Hmm, all that sounds almost like a re-directing process. Can I do this?

Taking the above life-items in reverse order, 1) how do I keep or even work on mental issues? I believe whole-heartedly that all true wisdom comes from God and His words—which shall never perish. So I look to the Bible to gather as much knowledge/understanding/wisdom as I can. It seems reasonable that gathering knowledge in the graduation exercise of starting simple, moving to more complex, then in to experiential knowledge will show me a plan of God’s which leads from Adam & Eve in the Garden all the way to God, the Father and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ in the city built 4-square—that is, knowledge of God’s plan to take back that which was usurped by an anointed cherub named Lucifer. This plan takes about 1400 (give or take according to size of type) pages of revealed plans (Gen. to Rev.) and how they have been fulfilled thus far and how much farther the finish is. It is a lifetime of study, and I am in my 9th decade.

[Other knowledge gathered along the way is useful or it is relegate down to not useful. Stored and only used for extraneous circumstances or frivolity.]

Now, a step further back in the management column I find work & exercise lumped into one category. It used to be that I would work all day, then have supper and go play ball—baseball, softball, or basketball for a whole bunch of the younger years. Now, it is work a few hours OR walk or other exercise, but not both. As I write this, however, I am recovering from a painful episode with my left knee. Don’t know the cause of it, but with some experts advice, I am going to begin again with long walking forthwith. Also, on 2,3, or 4 days a week I do some labor in the Blue Jug warehouse and/or a few hours in the local Blue Jug store. Not too strenuous at any rate.

[If work/exercise can be extended in my future days, I’ll be extremely happy.]

Rest and sleep at this age doesn’t seem to have a “usual” or “normal” setting. About 7-8 years back it became somewhat common that I would fall asleep in the daytime when I relaxed in an easy chair or on a couch. (In my heavy work years; 20s, 30, 40, 50, even 60s, if I fell asleep during the day I would awaken with a headache, so I sought ways to prevent it. Now I welcome a short nap even more than once in the day. Nighttime sleep has been changing ever since 50, but in the last 2-3 years with little difference as to when I go to bed, 5 1/2 hours later I wake up, go to the bathroom, return to bed but only about half the days do I go back to sleep. I’ve thought about taking an aid for sleep but haven’t yet found a natural one that works.

[It’s doubtful I’ll ever take a drug for sleep, so I look forward to better daytime naps or longer nights engineered by my will or an herbal concoction.]

The last (first on my list above) is diet. Ugh! Must I talk about this? Yes, I think I must. Having had two minor heart attacks from blocked arteries that were corrected by stents, it’s apparent that eating and drinking and snacking and desserting and on and on must be adjusted! But, I don’t want to! I want to eat whatever sounds good! Whatever sweet thing is gazing into my eyes and within my grasp both in reaching distance and affordability! I love bread! I love ice cream! I love pies and cakes! Does it seem fair to you that all this is to be taken away? No, of course not. It isn’t fair…..but, if I really want to live a long and useful life…..wait, I’ll start tomorrow….NO! START NOW!!

[An interesting side note to this is 6 weeks ago when my knee began to hurt really bad I stopped most exercise and even much of the warehouse work was curtailed. Yet I was faced with big meals, birthday cake, other diet temptations and was truly believing I had gained at least 3-4 pounds by now. But, today, I weighed and found no pounds added! Guess I better be thankful and knuckle down.]

Pretty sure this hasn’t been fun reading. Sorry, but it is up next on the blog, maybe I’ll be able to report progress in a few days, weeks, or months. We are entering into Fall today and all the fun but primarily ungodly holidays with all their goodies are close at hand. If that last statement sounds a little odd to you consider this: Christ was actually born about the 20-25 of September, though hardly anyone knows this and most of us who do don’t make the day special; Halloween has become an ungodly mess of goblins and devilish things; The Christmas traditions all come from pagan religions and were applied to a false birth date of the Christ-child of which there is no biblical call or instruction concerning making a special day out of it. The only holiday in the bunch actually worth observing is Thanksgiving, and yet it has become a big food and football day in most households in America.

But, by the grace of God and good friends and family, somehow we’ll get through all this, too, and maybe escape into the new year with a little less weight to carry around. Have a great Fall beginning and a very mild Winter, friends!

Thanks for reading, the Elder