A Dog Named LUCKY
It's a beautiful day today here in Sag Harbor. The sky is blue after the gloomy night/day/night of steady rain.
Lately, I've noticed that people around me have been introspective, leaning towards feeling anxious, and maybe even despondent regarding the overall state they find themselves in. Those entering or in their "golden years" especially.
Just for fun, I looked up the exact meaning of “the golden years” and this is my favorite "expert definition" that was served up by google: "Generally speaking, those Golden Years begin as experts say, at age 65 and last until at least 80 or longer, if you're lucky. Whatever decade you reach in life there should be a burst of gratitude that you have made it that far and feeling pretty good about yourself."
That definition made me smile.
But back to the subject, people have been upset--upset about Ukraine and Putin's aggression, the tragic situation in Gaza, the Hamas led massacre event of October 7th that unleashed the further violence that is still ongoing with tens of thousands Gazan deaths, including women and children; the ridiculousness and HATE rippling through our political system, the entrenchment of disinformation campaigns, and how well they work. It seems that evil is popping up everywhere. This is the backdrop against which people are forced to make important decisions. For those golden year folks those decisions are often financial, where to move, whether to downsize, is it safe to travel?
Maybe most important, what I am going to do with this next chapter, in light of the forced acknowledgement that they/we are closer to the end of the book than "midway."
A couple of days ago, a good friend of mine, almost exactly my age, broke her pelvis and fractured a vertebra in a bike crash-up. She is really fortunate in that the breaks in her pelvis are not ones that would be repaired (actually 2 places) but rather the bones heal back together on their own. Similarly, the backbone fracture will heal without surgical intervention. While painful, with PT, she should be herself in about 2 months.
Everyone comments, she shouldn't be riding; she needs to give up her bike and begin using the stationary. But I know that would be tragic--on a human level-- for her. She is an avid rider. Her daily rides of nearly ten miles are the highlight of her day. It is when she gets in her zone, when she is in touch with herself and a force much greater, when she thinks her deepest and most intelligent thoughts, and when she is free. She crashed because she was riding on a trail, and there were still patches of ice where the trail is in deep shade. She skidded out. She lost control.
WOW, I'm thinking that this is a metaphor for what we all are afraid of, what is in the back of our minds when we are making these life decisions. What if it's the wrong choice? What if we fall on our proverbial or literal faces? What if we lose control and "crack-up?" I for one feel energized by my friend's commitment and have admiration for her continuing to push herself both physically and mentally/spiritually. Not that I won’t be reading her the riot act as soon as she gets a little better... like how about using your best judgement here? You shouldn't be riding on trails that have icy patches, no matter if you've done it before or think you can handle it. But heck, there's still a lot of can-do leeway here.
I was contemplating all of this while out on an extra long, gorgeous morning walk with Daisy. The sky continued to brighten and we met up with another dog out walking its humans. She was as full of "piss and vinegar" as Miss Daisy. We exchanged pleasantries, and as we were leaving we learned the names of each other's pups. EUREKA! Their sweet dog’s name is LUCKY. And so in looking for a message from the universe on how to move forward in life, I was just about clobbered over the head. We are so lucky. We are exactly where we are supposed to be. The future is bright, and we can make decisions with confidence and with my favorite anchors, joy & gratitude.
It was a great walk today.
LUCKY
Treetop photo credit @SagHarbor.
