Another Year Cometh and I recall The Old Chinese Lady

Many years ago I was leaving a beauty salon after having my hair cut.  I found myself behind a very elderly little Chinese lady hunched over, as if gravity was pushing and pulling on her at the same time; she was wearing black baggy pants and an asian overdress accompanied by very tattered slippers.  She shuffled along so slowly, like a tortise in the sand but I did not want to insult the lady by overtaking her; respect for her age and the fact that I was in no hurry allowed me to pause and take my proper place behind her.

I had plenty of time to notice her thinning gray hair in an unkempt bun, her arthritic fingers grasping the walker she clung to, the long yellowish nails.  I thought to myself, I bet she was once a great beauty and the picture of grace and femininity. 

As I pondered these thoughts to myself, wondering how we go from young and beautiful to old and unnoticable....I was interrupted by two of my senses.  One being the sense of sound intruding upon my meandering thoughts to try to decipher what was causing the muffled rumblings I was hearing in a very distinctive rhythm.  These harmonic discords coincided perfectly with the shuffle of the lady in front of me.  The second sense to tap into my mind was that of smell, specifically the offensive odor of the expulsion of bodily gases. 

The sweet, aged creature to my bow was a one man band of sound and smell and any kind thoughts I had of her quickly were erased and replaced with the survival instinct to exit immmediately stage left.
I quickly found my escape route from the establishment, my thoughts turned to how do we get to that point in our lives where our age allows us to break all social rules and just let it all hang out?

What freedom to no longer worry or fuss about our hair, or clothing.  If your body needs to do something, anything,  you either have no choice about it or no longer care about impressing anyone, anywhere.  You are long past trying to capture a mate, find a friend, or secure steady employment. 

I decided right then and there, that I would not fight the life cycle when it delivered me to that point in time.  That is not exactly the next stop on my journey, but when that time comes, I will ring the bell and exit the bus of  life with a positive attitude and embrace the gifts of being counted amongst the elderly and frail of society.

As we age we need to be kinder and more forgiving of ourselves and be realistic about our limitations both physical and mental. Therefore, with that in mind, I submit my New Years Resolutions for 2010

1) I resolve to seek out and enjoy any carbohydrate that my mind summons up as desireable.
2) I resolve to not jog/fast walk/run in any way unless someone or something is chasing me.
3) I resolve to sleep if  I am tired and not worry about cleaning up some obscure mess for guests that  never come
4) I resolve to stop and get down on the floor with my dog when I notice she looks bored and lonely. I will scratch her and baby talk her and when I grow weary of this I will extend it for another 10, 5 minutes, because this brings both of us joy and peace.
5) I resolve to laugh when the kids break things in my home (it is like getting mad that the sun rises, it happens everyday, you might as well embrace it)
6) I resolve to be happy with who I am on the inside and the outside (with the exception of coming into some big money in which case I resolve to have an extreme makeover and be happy with the new me).

I feel my expectations this year are truly attainable and look forward to seeing that this year, for the first time I actually keep all of my self promises. 

Happy New Year Everyone.