Just Play the Hand You Are Dealt
Friday I went for my semi-annual physical. My numbers were pretty good. But, I described the last two months of 2009 to my physician and what I experienced from them. So … he took me to the woodshed …
Let me back up a bit for you. My father had his first heart attack at the age of 46. Then in 1984, he had a triple bypass – and the doctors told Mom that his prognosis was probably about five years. So, he’s already beat them by about twenty-one years and he is cranking along as we speak, mostly because he has followed a strict physical regimen of exercise and diet. It’s always been more struggle than he would have wished since that heart attack, though. And, he passed a whole lot of those genes along to me!
Like him, I am determined to hang around as long as possible. I have a lot that I want to share with my family and friends, a lot that I want to experience and learn – and I’ve really got some questions about how this world will turn out! Add to that the fact that I didn’t have Carly until I was 40 and would like to watch her and her kids go as far as possible. Besides, if she feels anything about me like I do my folks, I want to be here for her as long as I can. I want to be healthy enough to travel to where she is, too, as far as that goes.
So, I am shooting for my nineties with an option to extend the warranty. That’s why I took all the stern advice my physician gave me on Friday to heart! He said that with my family inheritance (genes), he already was treating me in the same way that he treats people who have had a heart attack and he wants me to do the same. So, he told me to control those factors that I can control and control them strictly. To underline the importance of rest, exercise and diet, he told me that if I find a time constraint where I can’t eat and exercise both during the day – skip eating! And, if someone requires me to work late hours to make money or keep people in a warehouse in business – go poor and let others find a way to keep going temporarily by other means. And, last, he told me to keep my emotions under control. To stay calm.
These are all things I can and will do. And, I add another healthy hand to this, dealt to me by Maynardo the Magnificent:
I’ve got to see how these characters grow up.
As Ramana would say, “Thathaasthu.” Or, as we would say in America – Amen to that Brother!
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