Friday, September 4, 2015

Getting it done

 Who knew that getting older would be so stressful ? I mean, think about it. When we are young and carefree we just go about our business. If we are late, we're late. We change plans at the drop of a hat. Spontaneity is the order of the day. That's why young people drive us older folks nuts ! We need to plan things out ahead of time, any changes can cause confusion. The other thing about us older folks is that appointments are like commandments to us, we need to keep them. We make them, we plan for them and nothing short of a disaster will keep us from them ! It is very stressful. The stress is compounded when our appointment is at ten and the doctor doesn't see us until almost ten thirty. What do they think, I have nothing better to do than wait around for them ? I have other appointments to make you know.
 I just don't know how life got to be this way. It wasn't always like this. There was a day when I could just blow off anything. Yes, with no more than a shrug and ah, oh well, my whole schedule could change. Work could wait, doctors could wait, shoot I used to think tomorrow would just wait for me. Now, I worry about an appointment three weeks away. And let me tell you this internet isn't helping anything either. I got on Facebook to reconnect with old friends. It was all going well until I discovered that notification button. When that thing lights up I gotta check. What notification did I receive, is it important ? The whole email thing drives me nuts too. I have two accounts and each have three folders ! Talk about stress ! Don't get me started about this blogging addiction I have acquired. The need to post every morning is very compelling. I'm thinking about taking a trip and one of the considerations is " free wi-fi " for God's sake. I can remember taking road trips with little more than twenty dollars and a tuna sandwich. I once drove a car from Louisiana to Connecticut  without any plates or insurance. Was I stressed ? Not a bit, just turned on the radio and away I went. No problems, no worries. Now I can't go to the mailbox without my cellphone. Might miss a call.
 I'm thinking it really has nothing to do with age. It is this modern, stay connected all the time world, cell phones and email, twitter and instagram, no wonder we are stressed out. We need to disconnect every once in a while. What we look back at now and think was irresponsible behavior was actually therapy. We were just disconnecting from the stress. Why any doctor worth his salt would recommend that. That disconnecting from reality was a good thing. Life itself is stressful. Maybe it is just that as we age we have more to worry about. We can remember more past scenarios and that causes stress also.The problem is now when we " disconnect " we get labeled senile ! That's just not fair, what happened to outgoing and adventurous ? Us older folks can still " get down. " It is the getting up that is the problem.
 I have thought about just disconnecting but it stresses me out. Now I need the stress to feel alive. In what can only be an ironic twist, my God has allowed me to age, only to become stress addicted ! No being old and carefree, no way. Time is  a'wastin' better get on with it. Make those appointments and plans. Don't deviate from the course. Tomorrow is only a day away, you know. I guess you could say that is the stress, time is running out. We do need to get it all done before we leave, don't we ? 

No comments:

Post a Comment