Are you contributing ?

You often hear it said that older folks repeat themselves. I am aware of that and it is something I try to avoid. The mind and memory does play tricks upon you though and it happens. When it does all I can do is laugh, shrug my shoulders and quickly dismiss it. I do wonder why I choose to repeat certain things and others are discarded as fast as I say them. There doesn't seem to be a standard like importance or relevance. Some things are mere amusements, jokes and such, while others are facts. So the question I have is why do certain things seem to float to the surface of my mind ? Or, more importantly I suppose, why do I repeat them ? One answer would be, it is just what I find important or amusing. We all hope to contribute something of importance to the conversation that is life. Are these snippets of information what I feel important ? Given some of the repeated stories I tell, I certainly hope that isn't the case. But then again maybe it is the moral to the story that I am trying to share. Few people like to hear lectures on morality and proper conduct so are these stories my way of communicating that ? I like that idea so I'm going with that. It does seem plausible.
In the telling or sharing of any experience one wishes to convey their feelings. I want you to experience what I did. I also want you to draw the same conclusion about that experience. That is why we often talk about things that everyone is familiar with. The weather seems to top the list. It is too hot or too cold. Then we often discuss the various degrees of each and compare our experiences. Isn't that why we say we have kindred spirits ? Our spirits, our experiences, are closely related. We seldom tell others of mistakes we have made, at least not the really dumb ones ! Those are not something to share. Yes, they too have a moral, but not to others, only to ourselves. Some things you just have to learn that way. But getting back to repeating things. Maybe it is also a part of a sense of urgency. As we age we know our time here is limited. It is something we are all aware of. Some get fixated on it and others never do seem to grasp that reality. And then there is everyone else. The "normal " people if you want to use that term. We just go along taking life as it comes and persevere. We are the ones repeating stuff too. Are we trying to teach others by rote ? It can be an effective method or a very annoying one. Whatever the case may be I do try to avoid repeating myself as much as possible. I confess to trying to reword the same thoughts though. I do want to contribute to the conversation. Diversity in language is as important as diversity in life. Different things for different people. Our language, our method of communicating our thoughts and feelings should be constantly adjusted. The message we are trying to convey should be the same, for these are our life truths. We should strive however to state them in as many ways as possible, to share with others, just don't let them know about it. In other words, don't repeat the words, repeat the message.