Heading Towards the Cheap Seats

This week's post - #52 - represents a personal milestone. Last January I challenged myself to create a blog page and write once a week for an entire calendar year. At the time I had no clear idea of what my weekly topics would be, I just knew there were things I wanted to say and share because I sensed that many people could relate to my thoughts and subject matter. I have rambled on about technology, coffee (repeatedly), parenthood, 21st century silliness, politics, mortality and even implored humanity to go to Mars (NASA hasn't returned my calls). Eventually, each week's post was laced with a common theme - if we live long enough we should begin to see the "Big Picture", and realize that many of life's best views are often clearest only when we have reached The Cheap Seats.

All of my musings in 2012 have now circled back on me and coalesced into one unavoidable question: Have I reached The Cheap Seats?

I doubt it, but I also know that I am plodding my way towards them - sometimes stopping to catch my breath, other times moving steadily upward, oftentimes turning around to take in the view, seeing things more clearly with each passing step. Here is what has begun to come into focus:

1. Don't Fight With Your Ex-Spouse - If you are like me, you used to be married. The surest way to screw up your children is to having a running "gunfight" with the person you once said "I Do" with. Typically, when the gunpowder has drifted off, neither of you will know why triggers were pulled in the first place. I understand that feelings were hurt and betrayals may have occurred, but indirectly and indefinitely scarring your children is no way to live, or parent. I am now thankful everyday that the mother of my children, her husband and I have co-existed more or less amicably for years. That took time (and some missteps), but we all have a much better view now.

2. Do What You Love - Some people have the great good luck to get paid doing what they love. Unfortunately, I don't believe many of us can say that. If this is the case, then it is more imperative than ever to passionately pursue the activities that consistently fulfill us, regardless of whether or not they ever enrich us monetarily. Sadly, in our collective march into middle-age, we often set aside those pursuits that once fired our imaginations - art, music, writing, design, exercise, competition, etc. I think when we disregard our dreams an important part of ourselves dies just a little.

3. Trust Your Instincts – There is a space - about the size of a baseball - that sits just below my rib cage, sandwiched between my lungs and my diaphragm. As far as I can tell, it’s always been there. In my younger days we didn’t know each other very well. When it would flutter, competing emotions poured into my conscious mind, each vying to elicit a physical reaction. Some “feelings” felt “right”, others didn’t. Eventually, after making more than a few poor choices, I’ve come to accept that my gut is a lot smarter than I am. The result has been that if "something" smells funky, looks freaky and seems fishy, I now know it's probably manure, not manna.

4. Don’t Live in Isolation – I have always believed it is important for people to enjoy their own company. Typically, I do. Either that makes me self-assured or self-important. Opinions differ. Regardless, when the only person I connect with on a regular basis is me, I know I am in trouble. “Reality” becomes skewed, smiles and laughter less frequent. Heck, I think good mental health hangs in the balance. So, as I creep towards middle-age, I am discovering that choosing people over privacy is usually preferable. This is a continuing challenge for me, but I'm more hopeful than discouraged.

5. And, to quote Winston Churchill (sort of) . . .  Never, never, never give up . . . . . . . . . coffee. It's one of the few forms of self-medication that actually works, so why quit it in the first place?

 

 

Finally, I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to read some of my posts this past year. I hope they have occasionally made you smile and laugh, pause and ponder.

 

 

To be continued . . .