Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Friday, February 12, 2016

Slow, Lazy or Bored

The idea for today's blog post comes from Ronni Bennett at the Time Goes By blog.  For some time now I've wondered if I was slowing down, tired, or perhaps bored.  Bob's health is not good so we live a pretty sedate life.  A life that could lead to any of the things I have just mentioned.

Now I know some of you are still running on high octane and I wonder if I were in your situation in life if I might also be more active.  We will never know.  I read Linda Reeder's blog Linda's Letters and feel tired, but never bored.

I've been reading another Linda's blog Linda's Life Journal.  This Linda is grandmother to 3 year old quadruplets, and helps care for her 89 year old mother.  She makes the most of every minute.  Do I really want to be that active?  I do not think I am fast enough to keep up her pace.

There must be something in between my life today and these two ladies' lives.

Ronni writes "Whether it is household chores like vacuuming and dusting or outside events - a meeting, lunch or dinner with a friend, a movie, a day trip to the coast or a winery - I seem to be doing fewer of these.

It breaks down to one planned event a day that I find tolerable.  If I have a dental appointment - come on, it's only an hour - I won't book a social engagement.  If this is the day I choose to clean the bathrooms, vacuum, do the laundry and scrub floors, I won't go to lunch.

And, whenever I do plan a day with others, I go to great lengths to be sure I am free of engagements on the days before and after to be alone.

Compared to most people I've known, even in youth and middle age I needed more time alone.  But I seem to need much more now of what I think of as a psychic renewal period after being with others before I'm ready to face the outside world again.

Since I've noticed this phenomenon, the puzzle has been whether desiring more quiet time is common to growing older or if I am just being lazy.  Or maybe I want to slow down life itself - that is, even if my walking pace doesn't appear to have changed, perhaps my life pace might be slowing, taking more time to move from one activity to the next."

Ronnie, I hear you.

4 comments:

  1. Because of my health, I have slowed down to a crawl. I think we all must slow down as we age, to a degree. My friends keep saying that they can't do what they used to do. We have a right to slow down, it's time to smell the roses ...

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  2. I know what you mean. If you really want to feel lazy, check out Djan-ity blog. She really makes me feel like a slacker.

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  3. I too covet my quiet time. I've never been the energetic soul some people are so it's no surprise that when my life slowed down, it really slowed down. Sometimes I read a blog and wonder how in the world do they do all that. I know I stress myself and don't enjoy it if I push myself so I just try to accept that my days are shorter and slower than many others.

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  4. Thanks for the shout out for my blog. I am feeling like a slacker this week too. While I have been out for a walk every day, and did some yard work early in the week, I have spent much more time than normal being sedentary. I blame it on politics. Besides reading the paper and reading and commenting on blogs every day, I have been reading lots of New York Times editorials and following links on Facebook. I really do feel better if I am more active during the daylight hours.
    I am slowing down. There seem to be fewer hours in the day lately.
    As an introvert, I am happy being alone. One social engagement a week is enough for me. Of course my husband is also my best friend, so I always have a partner for whatever we are doing.

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