Old skates… and hope
I hit the big four-seven recently (see above). And I hit it hard. To reference an earlier theme on this blog, I feel about as old as these skates….
You know how it goes. Little aches and pains don’t go away anymore. I forget stuff more often. Etc. Etc.
Now I’ve heard that there are ways to withstand the aging process, at least insofar as it relates to our gray matter. Sudoku. Crossword puzzles. Learning a language. Learning a musical instrument. All of these things are supposed to keep the gears in our minds well lubricated.
But I think the best way to stay “young” is to have hope.
My kids are six and nine, and they pretty much always have hope. They just expect things to work out for them. They’re ready to take on new challenges because they haven’t had lots of disappointments yet. Most of the stuff they’ve tried has worked out pretty well. They are naturally game for just about anything.
Me? I have to work at being game (and as readers of this blog know, that’s especially true when it comes to games…).
I got to thinking about all of this because of some recent reader comments. One was from MetalheadMissy74 (and as an aside, I can’t believe I have a reader who calls herself MetalheadMissy74 – thank you so much!). Like me, she’s had struggles with the game, Crazy Machines, and she wondered if I’d been able to figure out the puzzle I described here. The other comment was from the less colorfully named, but just as terrific, Carolyn. She offered me encouragement to return to my own personal Waterloo… that is, The Sims 2. Carolyn even explained how I might be able to feed my Sims avatar should I decide to play the game again. (Thank you, Carolyn!)
So the thing that really struck me was that both of these readers were hopeful. One was hopeful that she could find a better way to master a tricky game. And the other – let’s call her a dreamer (!) - was hopeful that I might find a better way to master a tricky game.
Now all of this might seem obvious and not that important, but I think it’s really meaningful. We old folks have to notice hope. After all, it’s hope that fuels our new adventures, whether we’re six… or nine… or even 47. It’s just that when we’re 47, we have to work harder to feel that hope. We have to seek it out. Unlike the youngsters, we know that things can go badly. But if we’re hopeful, we wind up giving it a shot anyway.
So thank you, MetalheadMissy74 and Carolyn. I am going to go back to Crazy Machines and The Sims 2. I don’t necessarily feel any younger today, but I do feel more hopeful and maybe even… game.