That I’m like my dad, or that I remind them of my dad.
Yesterday was the anniversary of his heavenly homecoming. It has been five years. Dad was 74. It’s past the biblical lifespan, but still too short for those of us who love and miss him. I never even considered my dad dying. I just took it for granted that the rapture would happen in our lifetime, so we wouldn’t have to worry about losing each other to physical death.
I guess that was presumptuous. At least our faith does see earthly passing as gain (if you’re a believer), and we’re comforted by the knowledge that we’ll have a reunion (and then eternity) in heaven.
I’m almost half a century. Realizations have been popping up more frequently in my mind, usually accompanied by body pain. The invincible mindset of youth is gone. When I tire myself and become short of breath, I fear the possibility of a heart attack. These days, you can hear me crying, “My knees!” every time I step out of the car, or “My back!” when I try to pick anything up. And like a cliché, not only do I now have to regularly monitor my blood pressure, but I also really have to mind my sugar to boot.
Health is never a trifling matter, but maybe we do tend to trifle with it until all the trifling starts taking its toll. We’re always surprised to realize that we’re no longer spring chickens. Like, how did that happen? It was only the other day when we were young, and the world was our oyster, right?
In the grand scheme of things, life on earth is truly fleeting. When we feel our youth has just whizzed by without properly taking its leave, and the golden years are just around the corner, we start feeling the need to make every day count. Here are some simple ways to make your days extra special.
- Have a cheerful greeting for non-human living things you encounter.
- Take a train or ferry ride to an unfamiliar destination.
- Consciously choose to eat the fruits of the season, especially if the season is about to end.
- Give an obscure food establishment a chance.
- Treat yourself to something you’d always wondered about but haven’t gotten around to tasting, e.g. caviar, blue cheese, durian, deep-fried stuff from the fair, etc.
- Do a random act of kindness – give a gift or pay for someone’s order if you can afford it, compliment a stranger, feed stray animals, help a worker with their task, etc.
- Use the special china and other things you’re storing for the special occasion that rarely ever comes along.
- Volunteer for something that really does some good.
- Turn an ordinary task into a game. Dare yourself to finish within a time limit. Give yourself a prize/penalty.
- Embrace the weather. Bask in the sunshine. Give a delicious shiver in the nippy air. Play in the rain (followed by whatever works for you to prevent catching a cold).
These are all the ones I came up with in the time I allotted for writing this post. I’m sure we can all think of more ways to elevate the quality of our days. Share ideas in the comments?
This Small Life 