Since I was very young I have been in the habit of planning my days, it has seemed to me a necessity, something indispensable.
When I was a teenager, for example, I always organized very well the outings I would go on each Easter vacation. These vacations of a few days were very special for me because I almost always went out without my parents, I traveled alone with my friends. Sometimes the trips were to the nearby mountains, but other times we would go further afield. I really had fun organizing every detail of those trips.
When I got married and my children were born I had to plan many things, short, medium and long term. I had to organize my activities and my income according to goals that would benefit all of us. I had to buy a house, a car, household goods, and there was not enough for everything, so it was necessary to establish priorities, save and learn to defer the rewards.
Thanks to that planning ability I was able to achieve every goal, we had our home, my children studied, we traveled on vacations and we were always able to solve every inconvenience that arose.
I look back and I think it was very wise to take planning seriously. As well as being cautious, thrifty, and only spending what our resources allowed.
Now I find myself in a completely different situation, I already have my home, my car to go shopping, my children are grown up and each one of them has their own independent life. I no longer have the responsibility of taking care of anyone. In addition, I recently had the good fortune to turn seventy, which is quite a big number and serves as a reminder that there are fewer and fewer years left to live.
At this stage, I have decided to abandon the habit of planning for the medium and long term. Something that has cost me a lot because it is not easy to give up habits that have been practiced for so many years.
Sometimes I catch myself saving money, not buying something I like, thinking that with that money I can achieve a more distant goal, and I wonder: Do you really think there will be time to achieve that...?
For some years now, I have been growing in my awareness that time passes too fast. This has impacted my way of looking at life and establishing my priorities. So now I try to focus more on the short term. I almost never look beyond a week. Every night before I go to bed I make my agenda for the next day and try to stick to that.
Among the priorities I have set for this time is taking care of my body. I have made it a point to maintain my mobility for as long as possible. Every day I take long walks, and combine them with strength and flexibility workouts. I would love to be able to fend for myself until the last of my days. It's amazing how simple things like sitting or standing up from a chair, or tying the braids on your shoes, can become very complicated if you don't maintain the discipline to train your body.
I am also focused on cultivating my social relationships. My wife and I are always promoting meetings and outings with family and friends. These are activities that bring a lot of joy and keep our spirits up.
Other activities that I cultivate frequently are reading and writing. I love getting to know new authors. I am always downloading new readings on my Kindle, sometimes I put them down after reading a few pages, with that I have no problem, if I don't like a book I don't have to finish it. Also, every day I try to write at least three hundred words.
There are other things I would also like to do in the medium term but they don't depend only on me. I would like to meet with my children and granddaughters who live abroad. I hope the conditions allow it.
In ten years I would be in my eighties, whether I get there or not. I don't see much point in thinking about it. I'd rather think about the coffee I'll have with my wife this afternoon at 3:30 on the porch of my house, I'm sure we'll have a good conversation while we drink it.
I am publishing this post motivated by the initiative proposed by my friend @ericvancewalton, Memoir Monday, in its thirtieth week. For more information click on the link.
Thank you for your time.
Images edited in Canva and Photoshop.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Logo creado por @themanualbot
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
