Pulling in the reigns on life

The new year comes, and all the new pressures, or maybe they are old pressures in new clothes? Things must be done, bills must be paid, houses painted, cleaned, repaired, landscaped, roofed, carpeted, floored, etc., etc. Children have to have clothes to go to work, school, and so forth, books must be procured for both work and school, and occasionally just for fun. Then the doctor must be seen for one reason or another, mostly for things put off too long, and now a problem that cannot be ignored.

There doesn't seem any way out, or any way around the huge wall of obligations that face use; the necessities of life appear overwhelming, and the opportunities to overcome them small, even nonexistent. How can anyone do all these things, and on the salary that I make? It just can't be done!

Mid January is the time of year when most suicides for middle aged and older adults occur. Pressures of money and life in general cloud their judgment, and cause them to make that final, irretrievable decision to end the pressure through ending life, not realizing that by ending life they also end love, happiness for their families, and above all: hope.

These things, bills for the house, doctor appointments, work on the car, they were here last year, and the year before. I was wringing my hands wonder how I was going to pay for a valve job on the engine in my Volkswagen Bug just before the Christmas I was engaged to get married in 1976... and I have had something to wring my hands about every year ever since. Somewhere in the 1990s I bought a good, unscented lotion so that as least I would have soft hands after the wringing was done.

I have now learned, as my feathers darken, to stop so much wringing of hands. My hands are plenty soft by now, I must admit, but that is about all I got out of all my worry and stress. Things eventually worked out, as I have been diligent about making sure my bills did get paid, even if late. I made sure my tasks were accomplished, even if not quite on time, and I made sure I completed my jobs to the best of my abilities, even if they were a little slower than others. That's all one can do in this life, his or her best.

And leave time for the soul, for without that time for self, you cannot do your best. Take the time to relax, watch a hockey game, fly a kite, take walks. Those allow you to put in that extra at what others pay you to do for them.

And as I get older, I find I have the need for a nap now and again as well, which is where I am headed now after the stress of writing this blog. Got to go rest my feathers.