Its OK – I am not “despairing” – its just that my thoughts over some recent days have led me to think about the concept of “despair” and the fact that it is not surprising that many people find themselves dropping into that particular pit!<\/p>\n
Elsewhere I have talked before about “not knowing” and it seems to me that a state of relative ignorance is both a blessing and a curse.\u00a0 Both sides of that coin – ironically – can lead to an attitude of despair taking over – although how much any individual is at risk of falling into those particular traps is dependent on the individual’s particular circumstances.<\/p>\n
I can, of course, only talk in an authoritative manner about my own – as always within these posts I do\u00a0 not presume to speak for anyone else.<\/p>\n
For much of my life I was happy to “just get on with it”.\u00a0 Increasingly I am aware of my own mortality – the reality that sometime my life on earth will be over.\u00a0 Of course I have always known that, however it was always so far in the future that it didn’t make any difference.<\/p>\n
That is no longer the case.\u00a0 Now – having spent almost forty years as a “working person” I am within just a few years of retirement – something I have long looked forward to – and something that I am now acutely aware will be shorter than my working life!!\u00a0 That I can be sure of!<\/p>\n
Here is something that could plunge someone into despair.<\/p>\n
For me it makes me question my priorities – question some of the things that I thought were essential (like working!!).\u00a0 But more fundamentally it has made me think about the process – whether I decide that X is important or not is of less interest to me than why I make the decision.<\/p>\n
One of the general categories that I wonder about is what can loosely be grouped under the term “entertainment”.\u00a0 When you are VERY young the idea of watching Tom and Jerry (or some other cartoon) is great – you enjoy the laughs – you never think “why am I doing this”?\u00a0 It is just fun.\u00a0 Same with lots of other things.<\/p>\n
There are lots of things that fall into the “entertainment” category that as I’ve got older I begin to think “what’s the point” more and more.\u00a0 Why read another book?\u00a0 Why watch this film on the TV?\u00a0 Why listen to music?\u00a0 The important thing in the context of this post is not the answers to these questions but the fact that starting to think about these things will increasingly raise the “what’s the point” question about all sorts of things – till eventually the only thing going through your mind is “what’s the point”!!<\/p>\n
By the way – I am far from convinced that I really have answers to these questions, but the good news for me is that I can ponder the ‘philosophy’ of it without it unduly affecting my own state of mind.\u00a0 (yet – anyway…)\u00a0 That – I guess – isn’t always the case.\u00a0 I suspect that for many if they start to go down roads like this it would be very easy to rapidly get to a very bad state.<\/p>\n
So – why is it that most “old” people do not despair when considering such things – is it that they can accept them unquestioningly?\u00a0 Is it because they just don’t ever consider such things? (perhaps I am unusual!!)<\/p>\n
To some extent, of course, all these “unnecessary” things that we all do are all that is left once you get older – that, after all, is the beauty of retirement.\u00a0 So it makes sense to just accept that and enjoy yourself – its only when you ask “why am I bothering to enjoy myself” that things go a bit pear shaped!!<\/p>\n
Looking at the “up” side the process of filtering out some of the less worthwhile parts of your life does mean that you are – by default – leaving more room for those things that are more important.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the root is “quality” – by devoting more time to family and friends – to enriching entertainment (whatever that is for an individual) – and to whatever you enjoy – all of these will increase the “quality” of your life – ensuring that you are not stuck in the process of just reaching “THE END” but are more concerned with the route that you take to get there.<\/p>\n
The ultimate of “’tis better to travel than to arrive”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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