I'm visiting my mother-in-law who is living in assisted living. As we
walk into lunch, we pass a very old man in a wheelchair. I smile at him
and say, "Hi! I hope you're having a good day!"
I
thought he would say something nice back, as I imagined that people in
wheelchairs get ignored. Rather than smiling back he sneers at me and
says, "What are you looking at? You're going to be here soon. Just like me. It's what's waiting for you."
Ouch! And happy birthday to me.
They
say that old people are cranky. Are they? Or, are they just more
authentic than the rest of us? Perhaps at a certain age, we give up on
the false pleasantries and truly say what we think. After all, isn't
authenticity the new buzzword?
The Internet is full of blogs, TED
talks, articles, and books that claim to teach people how to be more
authentic. Can it be taught? I know one speaker who wrote a book on
authenticity that he had ghost written for him. Oh come on!
We
all were completely authentic to ourselves at one time as a child.
Clear on what we wanted. What happened in our lives that so many of us
now need a therapist to remind us of who we are, and what we want?
If
we didn't want to please the elusive THEM, how real could we get? Even
alone, how many of us can look in the mirror and love what we see?
I
spent my childhood pleasing parents and teachers, my 20's being thin
and cute for men, my 30's being thin and cute for women, my 40's focused
on my career, and now, on this birthday, I'm feeling that I've earned
the right to start telling people the truth.
So, I plan on my next trip to the assisted living home to find that man and tell him, "Thank
you for being my wake up call. Thank you for reminding me that life is
short and how I need to live it authentically. Thank you for reminding
me that sooner than later I will be in that wheelchair with some
arrogant younger person smiling an insincere smile at me. And I hope
that on that day I can truly let the truth rip."
Meanwhile... I hope you liked this blog.
Self storage is very important now a days due to rampant burglars and other thief's that are roaming around. I liked this place, every single interaction with their employees has been incredibly helpful, friendly and personable and the units were well lit and clean.
ReplyDeleteSelf storage management software