Last time I did this I was at a tea house. That tea house is long gone now and my oh my how things have changed since then but then again some things haven’t changed.
Let’s rewind a bit before the tea house. I was at a coffee shop with an acquaintance. She noticed that I was limping round because of my ankle injury. She told me that her husband had the same thing and that it took him over 6 months to recuperate. I mentally winced. 6 months!?!?
It turned out she was pretty dead on correct. The injury was the centerpiece of the first half of my year. A daily nagging and painful reminder of how things were in general. I worked my way back from the injury and in fact I ran a 10k race in November. The ankle is not fully healed. On cold mornings it still hurts and I still don’t run on a daily basis. But perhaps given more time it will one day heal totally.
This year has in some ways been a wake up call and a reminder of how time has passed. Injuries like this that I could shrug off now take time to heal. Beyond that I find that some of the interests of my youth no longer hold the same allure that they used to. The science fiction novels, the action movies, the loud music just don’t interest or thrill me as they used to. From time to time I still indulge but I find that I am far more picky as to what I spend my time on.
The business part of my life has picked up during the course of the year. A 4 month-long sales doldrum finally broke in February and I’m slowly returning to form. I find that the sales arena is now much more competitive. We live in leaner economic times and I have to do my utmost on each and every sales opportunity and lead to try to convert them into projects for our company.
But of course the big news of the year was and still is the election. Along with millions of others I stayed up that Tuesday night in early November and watched dumbfounded as all the election polls were proven wrong. The implications of what this election might mean to not just my life but the country and the world in general began to sink in that sleepless night and for many nights to come.
Panic has given way to anger and then determination.
In the past couple of weeks that determination to stand up and resist the new administration and to work to oppose the dismantling of our freedoms has become more and more pronounced.
It’s curious. Thinking about the effects of this election and my need to speak up and act has made me think more about my life and my life goals in the last month than I have for a long time.
I’ve begun to realize that in some ways my life goals in previous years have been somewhat shallow. In general, those life goals consisted of maintaining my employment, paying off my house, building up a retirement nest egg, and finally selling the house and moving to a retirement spot. Possibly some place in Europe or maybe the southwest US. Not the worst life but not the best either.
But now, now I feel that this election has given my life a certain focus. I feel that this is a call to take action and to become more involved. I can’t just sit idly by and just go to work while things are occurring right in front of my face and not take action.
I’m not blind and I can see very clearly what is happening and that I have to lend my voice to those that oppose the changes coming to our country. I’ve never been what you would call hugely political but then again I’ve never before felt such a threat to our democracy.
I don’t imagine that the next few years will be easy and I don’t think that we’ve hit rock bottom yet. But I do think that if I hold on with steadfast determination that things will change for the better. I also think that no matter what happens that my life will be the better for having participated and having done my part.
My life will at least be more interesting.
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