My postings here have been few and far between lately. I must have at least ten topics ready to go but life has a hard way of interceding on things sometimes. I also see that T is posting even less, hope everything is alright over there. Most of my time recently and for the foreseeable future probably is going to involve making sure the wife doesn't loose it. We found out not to long ago that her mother has a recurrence of breast cancer. This time it has moved into her blood stream and maybe her lungs. It's what they call stage IV, meaning it has spread to areas outside of the original area. Everyone thought she beat it about two years ago but apparently that is not the case. For the past week or so I have reading a lot of medical journals on the subject. I learned a long time ago that fear of anything starts with ignorance of it. Of course the wife is not taking this too well. Her and her mother are very close, like most daughters are with their mothers. Last night we talked about everything I have been reading and she appeared to take comfort in it. This type and stage of cancer is no longer a death sentence.
I have never been the type to get upset over sickness and death regarding the people I love. I learned a long time ago getting emotional over things you have no power over does you or the person in trouble no good. It does not even worry me when thinking about my own mortality. It's a subject I have been thinking over a lot lately. Not because of my mother in law's illness but more due to the state of economic sickness of the world. I know how ridiculous that sounds but events have a funny way of making you think of subjects differently. The conclusion I am coming to is that human beings are simply not meant to live as long as what we are being told. When life stops becoming one of experience and growth is a signal that maybe things are probably winding down for the better. Of course some people can and do experience life in an enriching manor while fighting illness or even after their hair turns blue, but this is more exception then rule.
How does this relate to the economic shit storm the world is currently going through? Retirement. Retirement for most is really retirement from experience. As the economy crumbles and retirement accounts get smaller and smaller people are starting to realize something, maybe people were never meant to retire. The desire for living to an old age could be nothing more than someone convincing them self that is the only way they will ever have enough money to retire. "Living" then becomes the end all be all of a retiree's life. What kind of life is that? Not one I would like to be living. Then again, ask me when I'm 80.
Friday, May 8, 2009 at 01:43PM