The Gift of an Unremarkable Life

Wow! That is all I can think to say. When we wake up to a day, knowing our body, mind and soul connections are all intact, life is good.

I spend my days with seniors. Yesterday had some particularly poignant "senior moments".

How does it feel to be living within a body that is wearing out? When one's mind is keen but the body begins to fail, it must be a hard thing for the mind to reconcile.

How does it feel to live within a body that is weathering the years pretty well but the mind begins to fail? Memories from long ago remain but what happened a few minutes ago is lost. The awareness of the loss of those short term memories and impending loss of independence must be hard for a failing mind to take in.

How does it feel to make plans to be with a life long friend for an upcoming date but that friend dies before you make it out to see them? You do all the right things, you keep in touch with people who are part of your life, but life and death happens. You must learn to follow your instincts, to follow through with hope but be prepared for anything.

The truth of the matter is that any of the above could happen to any one of us at any time. No one is immune to the wear and tear of a body, an unexpected accident, a brain injury or the certainty that tomorrow will unfold in the manner in which we expect.

As I live my quiet little repetitive life, I hope I never ever forget to be grateful for each day that unfolds much like the day that preceded it. Minor inconveniences, mood swings and unexpected twists and turns are much like the weather. Life happens and there is little one can do to control the outcome of the "big stuff". We just need to remind ourselves to be grateful for an unremarkable day.

By "ourselves", I mean "me". I have had some pretty minor inconveniences taking up space in my brain lately. I feel pretty fortunate to have what I have. For as long as I get to hold onto "this", I shall come back to this thought and remind myself of the options. As my wise mom once said, "Things are never so bad that they couldn't be worse".

Life is good. It is very, very good. Things are never so good that they couldn't be better is the flip side of Mom's quote. So I will just keep my eye on the present day and accept it for what it is. A gift.