In almost 51 years of life I have been evacuated from a major forest fire (3 AM), been through several significant earthquakes, the LA Riots and a few other events.
I have seen armed National Guardsmen on the streets of Los Angeles and New York City and wondered a bit whether things were truly calm or not.
In some ways I am well prepared for the current moment because I have some life experience and in others it makes me a little more wary.
I can share some stories about present day events and why now feels different but I am actively choosing not to focus on those particular items.
Instead I am thinking about practical concerns and issues. Thinking about what happens if a rush of people get sick and hit the hospitals simultaneously.
Got into a bit with people who suggest there is an unnecessary panic who hadn’t taken the time to really consider how many people can be impacted, the ripples in a pond effect.
One of the people I was engaged with asked me if I had thought about if it is time to say all we need to say others we care about.
Told the guy who asked that it is probably good practice to tell the people we care about how we feel about them.
He asked me if I do it and I said sometimes.
“What does sometimes mean?”
“It means sometimes I say things verbally and sometime I write them.”
“Where do you write them?”
“In places.”
“What kind of places?”
“Mostly one of the blogs, but sometime I write them in letters that are saved on the computer.”
“Does that mean you don’t always share your feelings? You are pretty unfiltered.”
The thing about being unfiltered is true but it doesn’t mean that I am always willing to say anything and everything.
There is a time and place and some conversations may never happen unless we are face-to-face. That is just how it is.
But when it comes to the kids I try to make an extra effort, especially when I travel because you just don’t know.
Somewhere during the middle a of a lunch engagement I was asked how healthy I am and if I am worried about the virus.
As far as I know I am pretty healthy. Doc said at my last physical if I drop a few pounds I’ll be healthier, that was last year.
Got a couple of new things going on that I think are minor irritations. I’ll ask about them during my next visit in a month, assuming they haven’t gone away.
Truth is I still expect to be around for decades but that hasn’t stopped the whisper in my head that says truth is stranger than fiction and things can happen.
Sometimes you find out you have some terminal illness that you didn’t want, plan for or expect.
Occasionally I think about what I would do if that happened not because I am morbid but because I like trying to nail down what I really want to do with my life.
I like trying to figure out if I knew that things might end sooner than expected what I would really want and need.
Helps with planning for the future.
Ideally I won’t ever find out if what I think I want is accurate or if I do it will be 50 years from now in which case I’ll be able to say I have lived a pretty full life.
But things happen.
Life happens and sometimes your plans change or more accurately life forces them to change.
