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On Aging - Part IV Clarity

Depth, humor, and politics, all have their perspectives in aging.  We need them surely.  Another facet of this great time is the clarity of vision. Or wisdom.  This is a time when we can see more clearly than ever - despite wearing glasses.  This is a time when the world becomes clear, void of the blur and emotions of youth, the confusions of achievement, and the abstractions of thought. Our vision becomes as simple as when we were children.

This is not to say we are checking out or coming to a finality. It is to say this is a time when we can cut away the fog of all that heavy living. 

Some achieve this from the beginning.  We never understood them; they were discounted as out of touch.  But in fact they were fully engaged with the depth of life as we could not comprehend it.  We do now.  We have returned to fundamental principles of life, and like me, have returned late in the game.

It is a time for religion, for family, for politics, for fishing, for traveling, for sewing, for reading, or for philosophy.  It is a time for new adventures only dreamed about in years past, or new ones never imagined.  It is a fantastic time to grow.  We think why didn't I realize all this sooner.  In actuality, it was the fog, the multiplicity of duty, the preponderance of tasks, the multiple responsibilities of the every day.

Some never have a chance, life being hardscrabble from beginning to end.  It is so very unfortunate that many cannot enjoy these few years because of extant conditions.  Life has denied them everything for their full course.  Life seems not offer relief even in finality. There is never time for clarity, only resignation.  On a slightly different tack and to quote a friend's dad, "Life is just one damned thing after another."

In the meantime, many simply ignore age and keep plugging along as though it has not happened, has never been a factor, will never be a factor.  Congrats to you!

http://used-ideas.blogspot.com

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