Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Going with the Flow
A woman I considered my aunt, but who was in fact my father’s cousin, passed away recently at the age of 105. She did not have a disease per se, she simply left peacefully in her sleep. What an ideal way to go!
I always admired her philosophy. She said that the past should remain in the past and not be rehashed. And the future? It will take care of itself, she’d say. She went with the flow, today’s flow. That’s what was important to her.
When she was in her 80s, she would run errands for “the old people” who had problems getting around. She needed to help others, to be of service, and always had a bright smile. She was not rich by any means, but she had a recipe for a rich happy life: Don’t worry and go with the flow.
I would stop by to visit with her from time to time. I remember going to see her one day when she was 90. She wasn’t in her apartment and I was told: It’s Wednesday, she’s gone to her exercise class. Sure enough she was ambling down the street of the small town where she lived to make the most of every moment. It can be argued that she was graced with good genes, which she no doubt was, but there was more: she made it a point to enjoy life to the fullest.
Not always easy to do, is it?
But she did inspire me to try by stopping to worry about my children and grandchildren because worrying does nothing to help them, by not wasting time and energy on small stuff like being stuck in traffic, like locking myself out of the house, like spilling food on a white blouse in a restaurant, and countless other irritants.
As the song says: Don’t worry, be happy. In short, go with the flow.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Travel today
A family friend who has always travelled a great deal told me recently that she has decided to put that part of her life behind her. Flying is too much of a hassle now, she says. I agree with her that waiting in long lines to check in and then facing even longer lines to go through security can be daunting. We all want to be safe, of course, but we do need patience when flying anywhere these days. Especially when asked to remove our shoes. Young people don’t mind, in fact they find it fun, but older people who are not provided with chairs to put their shoes back on have been heard to mumble rather loudly that they deserve more respect.
On two recent trips overseas, I had to go through security at a few different airports, and I must say that those charged with our safety take their job very seriously. I doubt that anything dangerous could slip by. I had to throw away a metal nail file because it was seen as a possible danger.
While going through airport security can be time consuming and tedious, it’s a new reality in today’s world. Unlike my friend, I doubt that it will lead me to give up flying anytime soon. All we need to do is allow enough time before flying so as to not be stressed at the security check point. And not be shy about asking the airline to provide assistance if needed.
A couple of a certain age I know always reserve one of those electric transportation carts inside airports so they’re not tired when going through security. Wise planning since airports are getting bigger and bigger all the time it seems. And you’d better not have sore feet when having to walk for nearly a half-hour from one end of an airport to the other to catch a connecting flight.
I’m sure that like me you no doubt yearn for the old days when you could get to the airport twenty minutes before a flight and get on without problems. I did it many times myself, but that’s in the past. Like so many other changes that have occurred over the years, we must now live with the new reality of time-consuming security-conscious flying.
It could be worse. We could still be traveling by horse and buggy!