Life is What You Make It
“Invitation”
and very important day
for the goldfinches
that have gathered
in a field of thistles
for a musical battle,
to see who can sing
the highest note,
or the lowest,
or the most expressive of mirth,
or the most tender?
Their strong, blunt beaks
drink the air
as they strive
melodiously
not for your sake
and not for mine
and not for the sake of winning
but for sheer delight and gratitude –
believe us, they say,
it is a serious thing
just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in the broken world.
I beg of you,
do not walk by
without pausing
to attend to this
rather ridiculous performance.
It could mean something.
It could mean everything.
It could be what Rilke meant, when he wrote:
You must change your life.
~ Mary Oliver, “Invitation,” A Thousand Mornings (New York: Penguin Books, 2013).
At this stage of my life I'm well acquainted with how quickly life can turn on a dime and throw you a curveball. Every time this happens one begins to develop coping skills and learn how to think on your feet even as the rug is being pulled out from under you. Life changes are not guaranteed to be either good or bad, they are a mixture of both dependent on the eye of the beholder; and at some time or other, they happen to everyone.
During the first year of Covid I retired and then sat in my house dodging exposure to it. I got thoroughly reacquainted with my housemates after 30+ years of dashing off to work at 6 a.m. and dragging myself back into the house at 6 or 7 p.m. depending on who had a Little League practice or Cub Scout meeting that night. I worked and slept and worked some more for soooo many years - the rat race is real.
Guess what. Within a few weeks of my retirement my blood pressure returned to the normal range and I fell into the sleep pattern (up late/sleep late) that I last recall enjoying when I was a teenager. My efforts at keeping my blood sugar at optimal levels became successful in a stellar way because now I had 24 hours a day to monitor and adjust it rather than letting it slide because I had to be in a meeting or cater an event or create an expense report. I started to feel better about myself.
Now I'm upping my game again with better self care and exercise, step by step. Some days it is a real challenge, other days I can glide through it and be ready for more when it's time to stop. I am consciously rejecting the rocking chair and the walking cane in favor of keeping the moving parts moving and pushing onward a little more every day. My walking program has been teaching me about the difference between 'good' pain and 'bad' pain, and recognizing my limits; and I will carry on. My nutrition plan has developed into something I believe I have a right to enjoy rather than something my doctor advises me to do. I'm determined to give it my best shot and enjoy the fruit of better health because of it. I want my so called golden years to be full of learning and pleasure and joy in all of the little things that used to pass unnoticed in my former rat race days.
I am changing my life for the better.
Thanks for stopping by, take time to stop and notice the flowers!
Carol in Tennessee
