Journaling
by Irwin Lengel
(Auburndale FL USA)
Journaling
This post is about keeping busy during our retirement years, something I have been struggling with for the past year or so.
It is quite easy to get up in the morning, have breakfast, do a few easy chores, go to the doctor (often), and call it quits come lunch time.
But is that what we should be doing? The answer is a resounding “NO”! So, what do we do?
Well, if we haven’t been those individuals that have exercised all their life, it is a challenge to start in your eighties. Truth be told, one only needs to do it a few times in a row and soon it will become a habit.
It is getting to that point in your life where you must decide – to coin a phrase I love and was made famous by “Larry the Cable Guy” –
Git R Done!
I know for a fact that I do feel better when I take the time to exercise (start out slow – 15 minutes a day – and work up from there). Oh, and walking is yet another way to get some exercise in.
Exercising, even if for only 15 minutes a day every day to keep the joints working, the bones strong, and hopefully our body feeling good overall can be a good thing.
Okay, that takes care of the body. What about the mind? Enter the caption of this short post.
Journaling can keep our mind sharp. Am I a good journal keeper? Not really. But I try. I have been keeping journals off and on for at least the last 10 to 15 years.
Speaking of journaling, allow me to take a quote from Joyce Carol Oates who said:
The journal is the ideal place of refuge for the inner self because it constitutes a counterworld: a world to balance the other.
With all that is happening in the world today, what better way to escape, if just for a few moments each day, from the harsh realities of world events today by taking a few minutes writing down your innermost thoughts in a journal.
I find, when I do sit down and make an entry or two, it is very therapeutic and allows me to look at what is happening in our lives and realize what I think is bad or a problem isn’t as bad as it seems. Hence the reference to journaling helps with our brain/minds.
So, what is this post all about? Just this, as we get older (I am turning 84 later this year) we need to keep both our body and minds working as best they can, and these are two methods that should help accomplish both.
Okay, now for the wild and crazy side of me. As much as I wanted to get back to contributing to this site, I cannot let the comical side of me down by not writing something wild and crazy. So, here is something that will hopefully make you smile.
It seems hard to find anything decent on TV these days.
I remember when I was a kid, I used to see two movies and a cartoon for less than 2 bucks. Nowadays I’ve got an expensive flat screen TV, and what do I see? Those same old movies.
I mentioned earlier in this post that I turn 84 later this year. One of the things that bother some of us old folk is losing our memory.
A friend of mine heard me say this and said: “Look on the bright side, you’ll meet someone new every day!”
That’s all folks. Hope you enjoyed this post.
Until next time!
