Over coffee this morning, I read an old short story by Stephen King (about a middle-aged woman named Jax — imagine that), and I kept going back to reread a certain phrase. I read it like five times over. A 60-something wife looks at her aging husband and thinks, this isn’t life; this is merely practicing to be old. Later in the tale, there is a reference to life at their age being “thin.”
As happens all too often, it got me thinking (unsurprising, given King’s writing, of which I am a longtime fan).
When I look back on my life, which is becoming easier to do, as I now have more years behind me than in front of me, what do I want to see and remember? Scrimping every dime in case there’s an emergency? Spending precious hours and days of my time off on “stuff that needs done around here,” instead of achieving a healthier balance? Working endless hours so I can manage to continually miss out on spending time with family and friends?
Should we have put the money we saved back towards installing a fence around the back yard for Remy instead of planning a trip to NYC? Probably. Except, no. Sure, it would have been nice and convenient, but truth be told, I’d rather take Remy to the dog park and play with him in a huge space where he can run around with other pups. So the fence can wait. For the last nine years, I’ve taken dogs out on leashes in the pouring rain, during blizzards, and when my yard was covered in ice. I can do it a while longer. Why? Because I want to live a life that’s thick; heavy, and webbed with great memories that stick to my soul. Because I’m willing to roll the dice against a “rainy day” when I might need that money for “when something goes wrong.” That which feeds the soul has to take precedence once in a while, and I’m aware it’s not without risk. But what an exciting ride…
Of course, this is not to say that I want to live life without a thought for the future. We do have pension plans and some extra measures in place, but by no means are we wealthy. We won’t live large in our “golden years,” but hopefully we’ll live sufficiently, with the intent to not be a burden on our children.
So, the fence can wait. So can the replacement of the main floor window treatments. It’s OK to not dive into a second mortgage so I can have a nice kitchen, when I have done just fine, cooking for large numbers in my cramped little galley. We will make do with the at-times limited comforts of our space, and be grateful that we have it.
Instead, we’ll go on vacations. We’ll buy those fun bunk beds for the grandsons. I’ll put a lid on obsessing over how many calories I consume in a day, or how that pair of jeans makes me look fat. For now, within the boundaries of finances, time and wisdom, I will live a thick life — thick with silliness, walks, reading, family, friends, travel, and memories. I want to do all these things while I am still able, and not look back 20 years from now — possibly when I’m less able, or even unable — and regret my choice to be safe and frugal, as opposed to choosing to feel young and free while I still had the ability and the opportunity.
It’s all about that balance, isn’t it?
Well said Finkster!
I have long believed that one of the most important words to incorporate into one’s life is “Perspective.” When we live within a healthy perspective, it is there that balance seems to find itself. As I approach, with each passing year, the reality that my days only have a finite number left to them I find I live more simply. The joys in my life that resound with staying power are all the simple things in life. Sitting on a deck with my Baby, sipping coffee as we watch the sun rise above the mountains. Watching a Granddaughter grin uncontrollably after singing Christmas Carols in the town square. Walking hand in hand with the one you love, so full of life that words would be an intrusion. That’s the stuff of living large! I have done the other kind and found it full of tension, where tension did not belong.
So, I now know that when I gaze in retrospect at life it will be the simple things that I hope my memory will be able to recall. Loved the Post Ms. Fink, as always prompted thought from this old brain. You are significant.
So well written, my friend. You are living large indeed! Funny how it takes some of us decades to finally get it figured out. My days of “wanting it all” waned and vanished as I grew up and just a bit wiser. Maybe it’s a phase many of us need to outlast. All that is probably meant for someone, but not me.
You got it nailed!
This reminds me of an episode of Northern Exposure where Chris, the DJ, talks about the moral of the grasshopper and the ant, although I can’t remember which one is the wise one to think of the future and which is the fool for living in the moment, but either way, it approaches things in a very black and white manner, which is absurd and entirely disconnected from the everyday grays, or in your terms the balance. I’d like more balance in my own life, for sure.
PS. what in the heck is a “pension plan”? [yes I’m kidding]
Yeah, that Freelancers’ Union needs to money up.