Sheilaclapkin's Blog;

” Too soon old; too late smart,” is a quote from my dear elementary school chum, Linda’s dearly departed mother. Linda quoted to me what her mother had told her when we were lamenting the ages we have become since our Blue Bird and Camp Fire Girls days. How far have we really come? In our individual human lives we have not even made a dent in cosmic time, but we ourselves are all we really know first hand. Our memories take us and move us around a bit, but in my opinion we need to improve upon it before we go to the great beyond.

I am not looking at a Science lesson, but again, Linda’s mother’s quote applies to us in this nearly infinitesimal space of time, living our tiny lives in this great big place. When we were young, did we ponder how to spend the time in our lives? Of course not, we had little concept of time moving on. Can you imagine trying to tell any young person, “Too soon old; too late smart?” Again, of course not, they have no concept of its meaning. Now that you know and now that I know, what are we going to do about it? I do not know what you will do, but me, I am going to ponder and percolate.

Getting older and very old is a privilege, so what do you do with the privilege? Being privileged is full of choices. So where did ours in the aging dimension go? Did they die off in a cellular way? Did they disappear with the slowing of the neuron flap? Did they wander off by aging, or did they get swept under the carpet when we were not paying attention?

None work. When we realize we have been duped, we will try harder. Oh, yes, we cannot pull back words instantaneously, but when you think of it, there has been a lifetime of pulling back words and it takes longer only because we have so many more words, can make so many more choices, do so many more things and use so much more knowledge to order our days that we slow down by resting between orders. I used to blame myself for letting some opportunities slip by. This is not a complaint; it is a wonder of day-to-day, minute-to-minute choices. I look at choices across the ages and think to myself, I have lived many choices available and let some slip to the side. What was I thinking when I let some opportunities slip by? At the time, I did not and probably you did not see them as opportunities, and still may not deem them as useable choices. So you sit and think, what will I do NOW! Right now you will look into some magazines and find out the ages of the people writing about aging. They are pipsqueaks and know little first hand knowledge about the truth about maturing. Listen to yourself. Remember what your parents and grandparents said. Ask your friends.

There is a chocolate chip cookie in the cupboard waiting for me, and a charity bag to fill. Do I have to make a choice?

You would think you have earned the right and can do anything you want. The old age ads show seniors doing so many things. Mostly, none of them would I choose, and who says no one is clocking or watching. That’s a Crock. My kids watch and clock. I hear you; you say no one is watching, you are wrong. No one watches you as much and with as much scrutiny as you watch yourself. Yes, I watch myself every time I put a foot down to walk somewhere. I am terrified of falling and causing my own demise, so I practice what my friend Barbara M. taught me. Good shoes and heel toe, heel toe, heel toe all the way, and NO way can you fall with those magic steps. Let me know how it works for you. “Heel toe, heel toe.”

Back to, ” Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart. We’ve medaled into old, now let is dabble into smart.
Smart is not a privilege; it is a duty. When you learn something, you get smarter, and as you age you become smarter and smarter with the gaining of knowledge. With this gaining of knowledge, you were and are to pass it along. That’s really smart. You don’t loose it; just use it. However, memories do fade and you have to replay your tapes. It takes awhile. Wait.

Possibly you might like to believe the quote, “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.” Now what will you do? I will eat the chocolate chip cookie in the cupboard, first! Then, I will think about filling the charity bag.