Yesterday Patrick from Basement "Authority" came and gave us the bad news. After almost 50 years of existence, the earth has been pushing against the walls of the basement. There are cracks, bowing, and shearing. This is not good.
As I sat on my porch this morning I can see that it is much the same with my body. It is showing the effects of the wear of life. As I look ahead I have concerns about heart, mind, bones and strokes. And so exercise is about more than weight - but also heart and brain care. And I take my blood pressure medication, calcium and Vitamin D pills.
With both the basement and the body I wonder how much denial and unconsciousness there has been over the year. How long have these cracks been developing? How long have I denied the need to look long and hard at my overall health? But really, those questions seem to me to be dead ends.
This is life. Things fall apart over time and then we take steps to shore up the wall and attend to the body. And accept as inevitable - but not defining - the decline and decay of everything. And trusting - at the same time - the possibility of repair that may not bring us back to where we were originally - but a place and person that will persist, persevere and be adequate to the purpose for which it was created.
As I write this, I realize how helpful Pema Chodren's writings have been to me.
“We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don't really get solved. They come together and they fall apart.”
― Pema Chödrön
And so we are going to spend some money soon fixing the wall. We still need another quote - this time from the Basement "Doctor." I like my house, Chuck loves the basement and we will do what we need to do. And the same with this challenge of aging - we like our lives and our bodies have been really a blessing up to now so we will do what we need to do. And most of all enjoy it - ALL.
I will end this with a story from Pema Chodren.
“There is a story of a woman running away from tigers. She runs and runs and the tigers are getting closer and closer. When she comes to the edge of a cliff, she sees some vines there, so she climbs down and holds on to the vines.
Looking down, she sees that there are tigers below her as well.
She then notices that a mouse is gnawing away at the vine to which she is clinging.
She also sees a beautiful little bunch of strawberries close to her, growing out of a clump of grass. She looks up and she looks down.
She looks at the mouse.
Then she just takes a strawberry, puts it in her mouth, and enjoys it thoroughly. Tigers above, tigers below.
This is actually the predicament that we are always in, in terms of our birth and death.
Each moment is just what it is.
It might be the only moment of our life; it might be the only strawberry we’ll ever eat.
We could get depressed about it, or we could finally appreciate it and delight in the preciousness of every single moment of our life.”
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