I had to get transportation home from school today. Although home and school are less than ten miles apart, it took me an hour and a half to get home. One of the riders lives in the hinterlands, God’s country, call it what you will. The bottom line was this: we went baja-ing in the short bus. [Lin/Linda: I had to look up ‘baja-ing’ – also spelled ‘baha-ing’ – in the Urban Dictionary. It means “To cruise around on a motocross bike, four-wheeler, big pickup truck, jet ski, speed boat or some other vehicle where you may experience excitement by jumping dirt mounds, waves, or some other form of obstacle.” I’ll email them to add ‘short bus’! ::grin::]
Good thing rural Pennsylvania is pretty country. The roads were not. Potholes, ruts and mud. Also kids riding horses, as well as deer, dogs and goats – yes, goats! – all in the road. The goats were hanging out near a house with a sign, “not my goats”. The resident may have put up the sign in self-defense, but the humor was delicious. Especially since we had already been riding for an hour!
I needed that humor. It punctuated the ‘fact’ my life can be a comedy of the absurd and sometimes the only thing to do is to sit back and enjoy it. When baja-ing in the short bus, be sure to notice the goats!
I needed the humor because I am embroiled in a big life transition right now. Retiring from school and approaching 65 have got me reeling. Pick a retirement plan. Pick a Medicare plan. Find health insurance for my husband. HOW much?!?!? Find cheaper health insurance for my husband. Check what will happen to my state certifications. Good grief.
Then there is the stuff at the counseling center. Launching a BIG project there. That ‘free’ training we got the other week is going to be paid for with sweat and aggravation.
How to handle transitions. Carefully, very carefully; right? Psychology Today had a piece about ten ways to handle life’s transitions. That piece talks about moving as an important transition but I should think leaving a job, sight loss, that sort of thing would be just as important. I would suspect the “ten ways” would apply in some ways. Ya think?
Anyway, Psych Today suggests we give the devil his due. Transitions are important and they need to be acknowledged, not shoved away and never thought about. Painful or not, these times define our lives.
Then there is the question of attitude. Threat or challenge? Good or bad? I have yet to be jumping up and down with joy about retirement or sight loss, but I have tried to find meaning in them. Remember Viktor Frankl said, to paraphrase, sometimes the dignity with which you handle your challenges gives the pain of those challenges meaning. Focus on the positives whatever they might be.
Then of course, there are supports. Turn to your friends. Turn to yourself! We haven’t all gotten this far without some successes. That successful person is still in there and ready to help. Take confidence from all she accomplished. You can do it!
That brings us to role models. If you cannot be a role model for yourself, find someone to show you the way. There are people who have walked your path before you. They got through it and so can you.
Written May 23rd, 2018