From The Storyteller
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Dec. 30, 2019 Hello All: As the new year will begin in two days (Wednesday) I thought sharing one of the important thing from my 2019 experience might be helpful. Enjoy, Doug Older “I’ve spent a lot of time and effort on getting older. You might think with all this practice I could do it better, but I just seem to be stumbling along.” - Me rambling while sitting with Elaine as we drink our morning coffee. Her response, a gentle laugh and then, “That should be your New Year’s story.” And so at her suggestion, with 2019 coming to a close, my question is, “Did I do ‘getting older’ better this year?” We age without much to say about it, until one day we no longer do, and I confess that using this "aging time" wisely has often been a challenge for me. Thus, over the years I developed a New Year’s habit of reflecting on choices and decisions made during the previous 12 months, trusting that it will help me make better calls in the future. For much of my earlier years, this annual reflection looked more to how successful I was at meeting the year’s challenges. Over the last few years, however, my evaluation filters have gradually moved away from a focus on my handling challenges, to simply appreciating people more. Discovering the things that make every person I encounter unique is just more fun. This past year, on the day after attending an unanticipated funeral for a friend, I found a short saying that I wrote it down on a yellow Post-It note. I read it daily. I believe it reflects a truth that will make 2020 even better than 2019 (which has been a really awesome year). The saying: “Don’t let it be the funeral director who hosts your next family reunion.” As I write this, I hope you can hear me say, “I’m working on it” Moral: Working on improving my 2020 vision seems like a good place for me to start the new year. |