To be Free of Conventions is an Attribute

           To be Free of  Conventions is the major attribute of reaching an Age where it is not necessary to be home- or work-bound on a daily basis.  Many times, one can drop everything and take time to smell the roses in the garden or take a walk in the early morning and appreciate the sunrise, or the evening and appreciate the sunset.  

         To be so tied down to one's aches and pains, makes one a complainer, to whom no one wants to listen.  I learned in my early days, after all my children were born and growing, that whenever I complained about the bad parts of my life, no one even cared. But when I started saying that Everything was fine—soon enough—everything began to be fine. The bad parts did not disappear but I had freed myself of the complaints.  I actually started to enjoy my children. We took bike rides together, swimming lessons together, and a great variety of other things got done. They learned to plait palm fronds to make belts and I even made a hat with a fancy looped edge.

            I also learned to make a corner in my mind for nicer things to do: like sweaters and dress-up clothes for my children, and some of their toys for Christmas. Imagination got a good workout during those days.  As a result, I could never grow old gracefully,  even if I would be able to stand on my head.

           One day recently, children in my area, pulled a starter pedal out from my bike.  When I pulled into a parking lot and put it on its stand, I turned to walk aways and I landed flat on my back. I just did an ab curl and I was up as if nothing happened out of the ordinary. And for some reason, no one even saw what had happened.  That was months ago, but I remember it as if it were yesterday. It was such an unexpected surprise.  One can never act in a graceful manner while flat on one's back.  I decided it was just a lesson for me not to be so persnickety.  Live and Learn. Boy, did I at that time!