How Do You Fill Your Time?

Soylent Green…

If you know what I’m referencing, I don’t have to explain. For everyone else? Check it out here on Wikipedia.

The story referenced the future in 2022… Whew! Dodged that bullet! Food is manufactured nourishment. Life is dystopic. No hope of living past 60. And for a good reason. Research the article, and you can find out the horrifying reason.

When life is most certainly weird,
How do you fill your time?
When the end is sure to be tragic,
Why focus on how you live today?

I never thought about what I do with my time until I reached a pandemic, which included paternal and sibling, other family, friends, and famous deaths. All in the same season.

Some would label it with the alphabet soup that includes grouped letters like PTSD. When you read one definition of this disorder, then you understand:

A disorder in which a person has difficulty
recovering after experiencing or witnessing
a terrifying event.

Perhaps we’re all suffering from PTSD to one degree or another.

It’s 2023. My bride has retired again. What was retirement supposed to look like? Not what we’re living today. There’s nothing wrong with our life, but I envisioned something different. This t’ain’t it!

How do you adapt? What to do now?

Either accept the new reality or step into the moment and force some changes.

If a disorder bottlenecks you, can you do either without assistance? Probably not. How do you change your perspective when your adult life has been spent giving to others and taking very little in return?

What’s My Purpose

Newly married and with life abundantly available ahead, we were a team with many of the same goals in mind. Food. Housing. Transportation. Money. Kids.

You worked for the reason you existed.
Nothing mattered more than filling your space with a support system.
Sprinkle some entertainment,
mix in some travel,
and you push yourself further down the road of life.
Making Memories!

You grow old together and find that your likes and dislikes are similar, but you also note that energy wanes and focus gets cloudy. It takes longer to finish something. Your home network of workers (kids) cannot pitch in because they live their own lives. How do you finish what you started before another need pops on the horizon that needs more energy than you currently have?

You realize you have reached a time when memories are all you have.

Making Changes

My son notes how my dad used to come to mow our grass. Why? He wanted something to do, and this was the one thing he could easily do and enjoy! I remember dad mowing when I was a toddler, the same way he pushed up and down the fast-growing grass in our Anchorage backyard.

That influenced me. I love mowing yards. Mindless work. No grass catcher here. Just mow. No raking. Just mow. For decades, I allowed mowing to be my mental catchup place. This was when I spent time thinking through challenging situations. Had I been a pilot, I could imagine soaring through the skies similarly. Think life through as you pierce the horizon.

Today?

I’m making changes as I age. Life must have a reason. My time must be spent supporting the reason why we are here.

It’s not just about me. It’s about others.

Maybe this means I’m living in the wrong time zone (North? Alaska, do I hear you again?), or I am reinventing myself to be satisfied here and busy making changes to fulfill my purpose with action.

I know where my heart is… Do you? I want to be productive no matter where I am!

Perspectives Are Important

The grass is greener over there. Right? It must mean they have a better life. But we know that’s not true. There are dystopic challenges everywhere.

This pandemic has been a season.
And it’s not over yet!
It will take even longer seasons to recover from.
So, find your purpose where you are planted.

Jesus said, “Occupy till I come.” (Luke 19:13). Other translations make this more modernly understood. “Do business till I come (NKJV).” “Operate with this until I return (MSG).” “Trade ye herewith till I come (ASV).” “Engage in business until I come (ESV).”

Maybe retirement is not the key. (I’m not sure the Bible condones retirement as we’ve learned to consider it!) Sitting back in the waning sunlight does none of us any good. But finding purpose as you age; now that’s the key.

And we know that all things work together for good
to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
(Romans 8:28 NKJV)

Okay. I have my perspective realigned to live these elder years for a certain reason and purpose. Purpose means doing something that produces a sense of value. I know what that valuable thing is in my life.

I’ve got some repairing to accomplish. Why? I’ve still got 30+ years ahead of me to occupy. I’m ready to be busy.

Future? Here I come!