Don't Get Excited

   As always, I am sitting here wondering what to do for a blog post. Initially when we started this it was supposed to be about our new adventures in Ecuador. To most of you that was probably evident from the title. However, the pandemic hit and adversely affected everything, including this blog. Being of a certain age, which unfortunately begins with a seven, the best advice for me was (is) to stay inside, avoid contact with all those filthy diseased persons roaming the streets trying to infect me, wash my hands, and hope I'm still around when the vaccine arrives. Which I have done. However, posting "I walked the dog, I read a book, I watched TV", every week doesn't inspire return visits to our blog.  So I have been racking my brain for something new. And then it came to me!  I'm old, I mean OLD. And since every persons' life is unique, and I seem to have had a bit more varied life than most, maybe I should just occasionally write a post about that. So that's what I'm about to do. At this point you are free to switch to the latest episode of  "The Bold and the Beautiful" if you like, but the gems of wisdom will be few and far between over there.

Don't Get Excited... It Might Not Happen

   I heard the above expression the other day and I was immediately struck by what a load of... bad advice... it was, on every level. For starters, we all get very few opportunities to get really excited about anything in this life. It just plods along with things continuing to proceed in what seems like an ever repeating loop.  Months, sometimes years, go by without us even being aware that time is passing. And passing us by. If you listen carefully you can hear yourself saying "Where the hell did the summer go?"

   And then the prospect of something exciting happening to us appears on the horizon! Suddenly the days are brighter, the sun is shining, the air is cleaner, and all our senses are tuned, humming, and pointed in one direction. We remember what we did yesterday and we are anticipating what we are going to do tomorrow. Schedules are cleared, plans are made, and we tingle with new possibilities. Life is no longer a plod to the unknown but a shining pathway to a brighter future.

And then someone says "Don't get excited... it might not happen". 

   Now I realize that they are just trying to protect us from disappointment. But life is full of disappointment almost every day. We can handle disappointment.  Disappointment is the thing that we are best trained to deal with. In fact, from birth, we are constantly wishing we were smarter, more athletic, better looking, more artistic, more musical, better at math... do I need to go on? We don't need to be protected from disappointment, we are fully armored against it, daily, almost from the moment we open our eyes and realize we are wearing Pampers and not Huggies. 

   But excitement for the future, that only happens rarely. Even if it's only a possible future. So when it happens we should roll in it, wallow, fantasize about it, spread it on fresh bread and eat it. 

   If you grew up in a small town or a close knit neighbourhood you will remember that there were always a couple of old guys you would see around, doing the same things they had been doing for fifty years. Herman would stride off down the street with hopeful expectation, wishing a "good morning!" to everyone he met and meeting the new day with anticipation. Festus on the other hand would glower at you and simply grunt if you greeted him on the street. Every town had their Hermans and Festuses (Festi?) and they were spoken about a lot. When they were gone people often spoke fondly of Herman, the fun things he did and said, and what a good life he had. 

   Festus... not so much.

   So what's the difference? Herman saw the potential of every day. He got excited. It might happen! And sometimes it did, simply because he was ready and open to any and all ideas. Even near the end he could get excited remembering things that had almost happened. His life was broad and full.

   Festus... not so much. 

   So from my perch in what will be your future, get excited! Have faith, and hope that good things will happen. And when you are in that state, things that you never expected will come running around the corner and slam right into you. And your life will change in completely unexpected ways. Then, when you get older than rock, like yours truly, you might find yourself living in the sun in Ecuador, wondering "How the hell did I get here, and could the whole thing have been any more fun?"

   I don't think so.

                             Get Excited!