Isn't 'old age' simply delightful? Waking up at 3:00 A.M., when most people are sleeping peacefully, and stumbling half-awake into the bathroom, and then sitting there, waiting for nature to get on with whatever it brought you here for, and yes, I do sit, mostly because I'm too tired to stand around feeling stupid while there's nothing happening.
Actually, I do some of my best thinking sitting there on the 'throne' contemplating the human condition while my sleepy old brain returns to the conscious world from dreamland once again. This morning, for example, I was thinking back over a nice conversation I had yesterday with my youngest son, Jason. He and I are so much alike in so many ways that it's actually frightening. As I inadequately tried to tell him yesterday again, I fervently hope that he can somehow avoid the pitfalls of relationships into which I tumbled headlong and impulsively. Neither of us is stupid but neither of us was given a whole lot of natural self-control, either. So we have to use the artificial kind, prescribed by our doctor, and contrary to our own personal convictions, we are not smarter than medical science and biochemistry. Inside me, for example, there's a scared little kid, wishing he had the right questions, never mind the right answers. And we all need whatever help we can get, usually.
From there, to the bigger picture, I got thinking that it's really not a lack of any scientific or technological advancements which are holding us back as a species. It's always been our continuing lack of self-control both as individuals and as nations which has kept us in the 'dark ages' of real progress. So if we tried a little harder to 'look before we leap' and to resist the urge to ignore the advice of better heads than our own, and perhaps 'taste our own words before turning them loose on others' who knows how much better the world around might be?
My "good stuff" always comes, while I'm in the shower. I call it my "office!" lol! I'm always wishing for a grease pencil 'cuz thoughts start tumble out, when I enter that "chamber!" :-D
ReplyDeleteNice that you're getting a chance to visit w/your son and...impart your WISDOM for him to, HOPEFULLY, (as you also say) HEED your advice! It's pretty painful to have to watch others repeat a path we've already pretty much worn to a nub! :-/ I think, deep inside, he'll know that you advise him...because you love him and want the best for him! Good job, Dad! :-D
Hi, TC -
ReplyDeleteI wonder what it is about bathrooms to make them start our thinking processes working creatively?
Some of my friends and relatives have suggested that I 'write a book' to pass along my so-called 'wisdom' to the masses, but I've vigorously resisted the temptation. Almost nobody takes advice, and even if they did, who's to say mine's better than theirs? Or that it might work under their circumstances? But there are a few general guidelines, of course.
And you're right, My Dear - I do love him, even though I've failed miserably at expressing it. Some day, I hope he understands that. As I've tried to tell him, I really hope he doesn't make the same mistakes I did, because it's time we changed the direction of all that to something much better. I hope he turns out to be a much better man than I've been in that respect. And thanks for your insights on all this. Enjoy your day.