Fact: Stay Classy!
Recently had this shared on my FB page and loved loved loved it. When I was young, I noticed, since my parents were older (and therefore had older friends), that many of the women were kinda crabby all the time. I always swore that wouldn’t be me.
Then I got older and started to understand why. Life not where you thought it would be? Your dreams unanswered? People disappoint you? Is this all there is?
Hard to do, but worth trying. We can all try to “remain classy” as we work our way through the disappointments caused by friends, family and the universe. Enjoy these helpful hints and see (not judging, I’m equally as guilty) if maybe there’s one there that you can work on.
(And hoping that my “copy/paste” from FB – to this blog works, LOL! I’m old – but not crabby!!)
Who You Callin’ Old??
I got a kick outta this article the other day. We’ve all been thinking this for a while now. We’re living longer, and feeling younger. At least I hope you are?
Of course it takes a “study” of some kind to prove what we’ve known for a while now. Being active, thinking young, and surrounding yourself with like minded people – all this helps keep us vital both mentally and physically.
Drives my son’s crazy that at my age, I’m still riding horses and on the occasion, jumping them around a course of obstacles. Heck, just climbing up on the back of an 1100 pound animal with attitude is sometimes challenging. But it’s my passion, and my passion just happens to be pretty physically and mentally challenging at times.
Give the article a read and see if you can see yourself in it! Meanwhile, I’m going to get back to researching and planning my next adventure this Fall with friends “of a certain age” who still enjoy crossing an ocean and discovering other countries. After all, we’re not getting any younger . . .
A Little Light’Heartedness Today!!
Many thanks to my old next-door neighbor, or should I say “former” next-door neighbor (so I don’t make her feel old??) for sharing this with me yesterday!!
Seemed appropriate and did make me giggle to myself. Hope it will give you some light heartedness on the day after tax day (and for those of us in the mountains where it snowed AGAIN – UGH!!)?
Where does it all come from????????
Book Backlog – – –
I used to love to read, holding a real book, the smell of the paper when you get it new. Sure, years ago I ordered a Kindle – seemed “with it”. Everyone had one, especially for plane travel. Then after a real lack of use, for some unknown reason I upgraded several years ago to the new version “Paper White”. It still sits in the bedside nightstand shelf, dead battery and all. You see, there’s this stack of real books I haven’t gotten to yet.
So a 2024 resolution is to get through some of those books. I’m doing pretty well. Truth be told, as I read some of them, I wonder . . . now why did I buy this?? However, the latest one has charmed me and made me laugh out loud multiple times. It’s been around for a bit, and clearly someone gifted this to me as they know of my love of canines. I present to you: “Lessons From Lucy – The Simple Joys of an Old, Happy Dog”. The author is a familiar name: Dave Barry.
As promised from my last post, this is light hearted and a feel-good share. I do encourage you to read it in it’s entirety, yes – even if on a Kindle, because there were a few times where I laughed so hard that I had tears, but below I share it’s finer points for a quick “lesson” in being joyful.
- Make New Friends. (And Keep the Ones You Have)
- Don’t Stop Having Fun. (And If You Have Stopped, Start Having Fun Again)
- Pay Attention to the People You Love. (Not Later. Right Now)
- Let Go of Your Anger, Unless It’s About Something Really Important, Which It Almost Never Is.
- Try Not to Judge People by Their Looks, and Don’t Obsess Over Your Own.
- Don’t Let Your Happiness Depend on Things; They Don’t Make You Truly Happy, and You’ll Never Have Enough Anyway.
- Don’t Lie Unless You Have a Really Good Reason, Which You Probably Don’t.
- Be Grateful for What You Have. (It’s Probably More Than You Think)
When Dave Barry wrote this book (and he’s written many) he was turning 70. Of course the book was published in 2019 (told you I was behind) but since I just turned 70 I took it as a “sign” that I was meant to read it at this time. I’m thinking of printing these “lessons” out and sticking on my refrigerator door so that I can be reminded on a daily basis of ways to be more joyful.
I hope you’ll enjoy these Lucy lessons as much as I did.
Makes Sense, But Still . . .
I admit it, I ready my monthly AARP magazine and also the small newsy publication that looks like a “mini” newspaper. I like the crossword, I also like the articles and suggestions they offer. If it’s something that doesn’t pertain to me, I skip it. Not one of those who reads it cover to cover. It does give some interesting info that I can use.
One of the tidbits I found a few days ago was short and to the point. It makes total sense, but sometimes even those things that make total sense are still hard to accomplish. Life is challenging, not like the “good ol’ days” when people behaved and were nice to one another.
Alot of my posts lately have been about people, relationships and even bad behavior. I promise, the next one that I have planned will be alot more fun. Till then, I share from the December 2023/January 2024 issue this thought:
“Lighten Up! Ruminating on grudges, resentments and negative thoughts not only can put you in a foul mood but also has been linked to a decline in cognition and memory in people 55 and over, according to a study published by the Alzheimer’s Association.”
I certainly don’t need anything causing additional decline in cognition and memory. There’s only so much Prevagen “Extra Strength” I can swallow!
Sunday Thought – – –
How’s the time change working for you? The older I get the more I appreciate those states who no longer deal with Daylight Savings Time. Spring forward? How’s about ‘Spring’ing into a face plant. Feeling kinda sluggish today, of course I could also attribute that to the very busy two weeks of travel I’ve had and a fairly packed calendar of events. Didn’t used to slow me down, but OK, I’m older now, ha ha.
So after a dog walk, an appointment at the Apple Store, and a grocery run, I found myself on the sofa binging a series on Netflix. “Madoff – The Monster of Wall Street”. You know about him, you think you understand it, but the details are fascinating and wow, would not wanna be the SEC during all of that discovery. Talk about an EPIC fail. But I digress . . .
One of the main people who narrate on camera is a woman, who in summation at the end of the four-parter comes up with a statement that was so significant to me that I had to pause it, write it down, so I could share it with you. Not only does/did it apply to the Ponzi scheme and meltdown of his investment business, but is totally relatable to many other areas of life. Summed it up so succinctly that I had to stop and think about things in my past, and how to handle relationships in the future.
So here it is, for your consideration:
“The only people who can deceive you completely, are people you trust completely. And the price of trusting anyone is that they can betray you like that”.
I tend to place my trust way too often, and way too easily. Do I want to always be suspicious? No, but maybe a few things in my past might’ve turned out differently if I had been? Hind sight is 20-20 but as I move forward, it certainly is food for thought.
Not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but certainly it is OK to be cautious moving forward with personal relationships. They say that trust given freely, once broken, must be earned back. In some cases, maybe you never give it back. Be careful out there and remember the one person you can ever really truly count on, is yourself.
The Year Of Cleaning House – – –
And I don’t mean actually cleaning the physical house. UGH! What I’m thinking 2024 is for me is the year I’m finally gonna get “real” about relationships, both long term and short term.
Some people lift you up, some drag you down. Some people meet expectations and exceed them. Some people you keep lowering your expectations and they still disappoint. Why do we do that to ourselves?
So by cleaning house, I really am saying that some people I thought were friends, you know, the forever type? I’m moving on. It’s too exhausting to be the only one vested in the relationship. It’s too disappointing to forever be offering graciousness and latitude, gifts of kindness and opportunities, and get nothing back in return.
I know you should not “give” so that you will “receive”, but at some point the “give” doesn’t even get a thank you or an acknowledgement? And the repeated yearly “gives” become expected vs appreciated.
I just had some friends from my old hometown visit here in the mountains and we talked about life, the past, the future, shared many topics and opinions. One of the funnier conversations covered Christmas cards. One of the people that I always send to, and who never sends back, mentioned that she doesn’t spend the time or money to send them but she really does enjoy getting them and hopes to continue to receive them. I think I must’ve done a head tilt and a “huh”? Don’t you think I enjoy receiving them too? Am I not worth the cost of a stamp and the time to address a card?
I know what you’re thinking, I’m being silly, I’m being too harsh, I need to get over it. Maybe, but it just struck me that the only way to quit being disappointed, is to quit setting my self up for it to happen. So I’m cleaning house, and surrounding myself with those who appreciate my friendship, who value me as a person and understand that I am worth your time.
And I suppose I’ll be addressing fewer Christmas cards this year. (sorry for the rant, but sometimes you just need to)
YAY – February!
Lordy, get me outta January!! Though it’s still cold, there are more sunny days and I am so grateful.
Speaking of being grateful, I stumbled across this article the other day and thought, since many of us have run into this personality trait, it would be a great share. For me, reading it made me grateful to no longer being in the sphere of a man suffering from this. (Women display it too, not male bashing)
Give it a look see, and let me know if you’ve tried any of these hints. Heaven help me that I ever run into this again, but now at least I have a menu of things to choose from. Read and enjoy your February.
Link: https://kimsaeed.com/2020/08/12/how-to-make-a-narcissist-miserable-12-things-they-hate/
January – Almost Over
January for me, in my new home state, is cold, snowy – even frigid. It’s the month I wonder . . . now why did I move here?? Oh yeah, the summers!
January is when we feel the pressure to have “resolutions”, to break bad habits, start good habits, get back to exercise, cut back on food. Heck – even some people do “Dry January”! Yup, tried that once and decided I get it – the reason, but don’t enjoy it, ha ha.
January is really really (did I say really?) cold here in Colorado, in the mountains. Many mornings can get below zero. I think Alexa smirks when I ask her the temp before I get up and decide what I have to put on to walk the dogs.
January is a travel challenge, though these days, that could be said of all months. I recently went to San Diego to help with the littles while my daughter n’law recovered from a surgery. Was supposed to return here Monday . . . then tried again Tuesday . . . then finally made it back late Wednesday night in snowy and slippery conditions. And do the airlines really care?
January is when we start to get notices about taxes and 1099s and K-1s and all those things that you have to start gathering to make the CPAs job easier. It’s a paper nightmare. And don’t get me started how much fun it is NOT to get it all downloaded/uploaded/unloaded. As organized as I am, it still takes up so much time.
January used to be when TV shows had a brief hiatus before the “2nd” half of the season started. With all the strikes in the entertainent world, and more than just major network channels now due to streaming, etc. – do we even have a “season” anymore? When do things start? When do they wrap up? Will Yellowstone ever come back?
January is a long month – 31 days. We start out the year trying to recover from the holidays, trying to keep track of normal trash days and bam, more government holidays to create trash and recycle backup. Where my son’s live, if you pull out your trash/recycle cans on the wrong day, you just leave them out till the trucks actually show up. Where I am in the mountains, you cannot put out the night before, you cannot leave out the next night incase you forgot the holiday. Too many critters around. Of course if you do “Dry January”, your recycle bin can probably skip a cycle anyway, right?
January is when you think you might actually start cooking again, no more Holiday parties to supply your dinner. This morning I actually did all the slicing, dicing, browning and assembly for a Crock Pot beef stew. Wait, is Crock Pot cooking actually . . . cooking?
January is when you finally have to take down all those Holiday decorations and fit all those plastic clear storage boxes back into the spaces that they took up for 11 months of the year in “storage” although somehow they don’t seem to stack back up quite as orderly as they did when first stored. Did my shelves shrink? Or did the boxes expand? And now since they didn’t quite stack up the same, I have Christmas wreaths in canvas bags stacked on top of Halloween decor. Oops.
I hope January gets on outta here soon, temps above freezing would be welcome and I might even have the tax prep “prepped” . . . could happen.
suddenlysinglewomen 