Wanna see my boo boo? I fell on my bike yesterday. I have a lovely bruise on my right ankle where the bike hit me. However, it appears my ankle was tougher than my bike. I can still walk but my gears are slipping. Nuts! That means no more biking until there is a repair.
My guess is there are some people saying how I should not bike any more. After all, I am 66 and legally blind. Time to hang it up.
Nope. It was only partially my fault. When I saw they had had the road torn up and the patch job was questionable, I should have gone another way.
Bad decision, not bad vision.
Did I know I was going to fall? Of course not, but life is full of mishaps. We truly don’t have a crystal ball telling us what is going to happen to us.
Bringing me to the topic of a request Lin had. A member/reader wanted to know how I deal with the uncertainty of a progressive condition like age-related macular degeneration. Good question.
Probably the short answer to that question is this : I don’t think about it! Now that does not mean I tell myself not to think about it. Not at all. If you are at a party and are moving about the room trying to avoid a person you simply CANNOT stand, what are you thinking about? The person you cannot stand, of course! Did you want to ruin a perfectly good event thinking about that witch? Doubt it!
Better to put your mind elsewhere. These are yummy canapés! John tells such funny stories! Concentrate on what gives you pleasure, not what you don’t want to think about.
And when your attention wanders back, pick it up and move it and keep picking it up and moving it until the fun, interesting stuff is just where it naturally goes.
What is fun and interesting for you? We usually feel best and the most “like” ourselves when we follow our values. It is called being authentic. Little steps towards your goals and values will allow you to eventually manifest those goals and values. That is called purpose or having meaning in life. Remember Viktor Frankl said if you have a why, you can endure any how.
I did a page a long time ago about how having one eye yet “to go” has been found to cause more anxiety than having two, bad eyes. I have the “advantage” of having my second eye go bad practically overnight. Two, bad eyes are supposed to cause less anxiety; right? Lucky me; not.
Anyway, I guess I have the advantage – and I use that word loosely – of experiencing a sharp loss in vision and surviving. And I know I could do it again. At least in my mind, I was tried and not found wanting.
How many different ways have you been tried and not found wanting? Why would you think you would fail this test? We are a tough lot; we are. Vietnam vets, civil rights protesters, remember us? Whose music and fashions (minus the Nehru jacket; that is) keep coming back as “cool”? Ours. We had it going on before we knew what having it going on meant and there is no reason to think we are going to fall behind now.
So to wrap up: Boo boos happen. We cannot predict them and fear of falling off a bike means you will never ride. How much better to be unmindful of when things will end? How much better to concentrate on the joys in life and not the vague possibilities of disaster? Personally, I think it is all a heck of a lot better. Now I have to get that damn bike fixed!
Written August 5th, 2019