Dear diary, it's May 25th, my "word for the day" all this day was
"enthused." Interesting, because up popped those questions again that says
more about the questioners than about me: "Why don't you retire?" "When are you
going to retire?" "You've been there how long?" "How old are you?" To the first
two questions, diary, I always reply with "When it stops being fun and I start
feeling old." True, in less than six months I'll hit the grand ole age of 70
(I'm still convinced they made a mistake on my birth certificate) and am in my
44th year at VSU. I suppose I could utter a denying "no way" or a depressing
"yuk" or an upset "aaargh" or a sighing "where have the years gone" to those
numbers, but, you know, diary, age is really a state of mind. It must be
because nobody believes me when I answer their last question, especially
students. I guess they think people my age should look and act like a frail,
cantakerous, shriveled prune surviving on prune juice, bent over, and
unsteadily hobbling with a cane or walker.
Well, diary, I'm no prune. I'm a healthy, razor sharp plum of a guy.
Getting older doesn't mean your spirit is getting weaker! No being put on
the shelf or out to pasture for me. No rocking chair on the porch in my
future. I'm still vertical and dancing. The only walker I have are my two,
3-4 mile power all experience is prepared legs. I'm enveloped in an aura of
contentment and a zest for life. Sure, my body isn't what it used to be, but
neither is my spirit. My body is getting older and older, but my spirit, where
it really counts is getting younger and younger, and my bliss is growing by
leaps and bounds. My synapses are wildly snapping. When someone says I'm not
acting my age, I answer with the adamant playground retort, "Am so!" See, I
always say that while I may be getting older I'll be damn if I'm going to let
myself grow old. I will not allow time to dictate my life. How can I? I make
my life is a dynamic state of "being" and "becoming." I work on the principle
that every day is new during which I learn something new and become someone
new. Nothing is a "ho-hum," "just another" drag. Nothing is old hat for me,
no merely passing time.
I wish I count the times someone has said to me, "Get serious." Well,
hell, diary, I won't. And, I will. "Serious fun" is the core of my teaching,
of my life, is living joyfully to be songful, all the way through it.
Everything is beautiful, magical, mysterious, miraculous, adventurous, airy.
I've been able to keep my teaching fresh because I take it and all that I do
all in just in that way: I keep my sense of humor; I keep my joy of living; I
won't let others hang on me their hang-ups on me. I will not slap labels on my
lapels. I'm still a sprite kid, an experienced one to be sure, but just a kid
knowing the joys of play, fun, laughter, wonder, curiosity, imagination, and
creativity in everything I do more than I have ever before. Each is a new day,
and I live it that way. I make use of each day to bring new experience into my
life. I'm a gusher! I keep my life fresh and invigorating, and am always open
to new possibilities. I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things. I
still live by my "To Be A Teacher." I blow bubbles. I play with
rolly-pollies. I make puns. I am immersed in today's uniqueness. It's all
about having serious fun. You see, as I have said over and over again, the
opposite of fun is not work; it's boredom.
I'm thinking of this because some people just don't get it. That's
why they're more stressed out than "stress hardy." They don't understand that
"newness," offers the most wondrous trips. Playfulness, maybe even with a
touch of silliness, of being carefree, is a healing balm. It's down right
refreshing and energizing. It's the Fountain of Youth that Ponce de Leon was
looking for. Where your spirit dances, your mind and body will follow. Maybe
that's why I chuckle when people tell me how good I look. Of course, diary,
it's a hell of a lot better than having people saying "poor, wrinkled guy, he
looks like he's about to topple over." Maybe they enjoy how I look and act
because if I am managing to stay young at heart, being and feeling energetic,
they'll be able to find a way, too. Maybe its comforting to them to know that
70 isn't the end. No, diary, age or longevity is not a reason to quit.
Domesticating routine, imprisoning boredom, stuck-in-a-rut disinterest, and
atrophying unhappiness are.
No, diary, each and every day, I care and feed the child within me and
keep young of heart. And, because of the lessons of my near-fatal cerebral
hemorrhage, if do nothing I cannot learn and feel and change and grow and love
and live. For fear of sounding trite and cliche-ish, I feel like an aged wine:
more satisfying, more refreshing, more valuable, more appreciated, and more
intoxicating. I know the ultimate sin is not to open the present that the
present has presented me, for if I do nothing I cannot learn and feel and
change and grow and love and live. It is sad to think how many so invest in
their tomorrows that they miss their todays. So, I am consciously grateful for
each day I have and live that gratitude, if for no other reason than having my
Susan lying next to me when I go to sleep and when I wake up. I make sure I
happily receive the gift of each day with joyous, open hands. I don't care how
smoggy it may be outside, when I rise up, I see the sun with my heart's eye,
greet it with joy and lightness in my head knowing that every moment is my
moment to shine. I let so much life in that there's no room for resignation or
disappointment or any other negative. No, diary, I'm closed to ugly darkness
and I let in the beautiful light, I let in the joy, and I let in the richness
of life. I just refuse to miss out on the value of any moment. I live it for
all that it can be. And, boy, does that keep me young, a lot of times younger
than my young students and younger colleagues!
Make it a good day
-Louis-
Louis Schmier http://www.the
randomthoughts.edublogs.org
Department of History http://www.therandomthoughts.com
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, Georgia 31698 /\ /\ /\ /\
/\
(O) 229-333-5947 /^\\/ \/ \ /\/\__ / \ /
\
(C) 229-630-0821 / \/ \_ \/ / \/ /\/ / \
/\ \
//\/\/ /\ \__/__/_/\_\/
\_/__\ \
/\"If you want to climb
mountains,\ /\
_ / \ don't practice on mole
hills" - / \_
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