Posted on January 29, 2025 under Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom with no comments yet

Going for a Guiness record

 

“Long may you run, long may you run,

Although these changes have come.”

Long May You Run – Neil Young

Your New Year’s resolutions are lying shattered on the floor like thin ice on a lake. You managed to lay off the sweets for three days and 14 minutes, but you knew that that one was a sham. Your exercise regime, though well intentioned, lasted marginally longer. Your vow to be more patient lasted until someone in front of you at the checkout took way too long deciding which lottery tickets to buy. Yes, indeed. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Sometimes, it’s better to play “the long game”.

We all remember those first job interviews we attended decades ago. You researched the job position to the nth degree. You were brimming with confidence as you strolled into the meeting in your bell-bottom jeans and oversized belt buckles. Everything went swimmingly until you faced the inevitable question” “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?”

Truthfully, you didn’t have the slightest clue what the following week held in store let alone gazing into the crystal ball. If we knew then what we know now we would likely have responded that we would be married, with three kids in shitty diapers, and hopelessly mired in debt.

A week ago, I was at school where I spend most of my waking hours these days. I was substituting for an English teacher, and he asked his students (mostly 13–14-year-olds) to write a brief story in their journals, listing 5 things they hoped to accomplish by the time they turned twenty. Finishing high school, getting their driver’s license, finding a good job and getting rich, topped the list.

As the room fell silent, I thought I would use the time to do a similar exercise. So, here is a list of the things that I would like to accomplish by the time I turn 80:

• Stay alive until I’m 80. In order to achieve this goal, it will be imperative for me to look after myself. I will need to eat properly, exercise regularly, do stretching exercises, get plenty of sleep and stop watching CNN. Actually, I stopped watching CNN the first time Trump got elected. Why not watch something gentle and wholesome like Heartland instead of worrying yourself to death.
• As long as I am well enough and have enough financial resources, I would like to continue to see other parts of the world. As I repeatedly tell my students, travel is THE best education.
• I would like to perform at a concert with my children and my grandchildren on my 80^th birthday, similar to what we did when I turned 70. Honestly, there is no greater joy.
• I would like to continue writing and if the stars align, to publish three more books bringing the total to a nice round 10.
• I would like to continue to teach and become the oldest substitute teacher with the local school board. I will have to go some to catch the Guiness record holder who was 96 and still wandering the hallways!

I’m a big believer in writing down goals, something that I consistently tell students.

When is the last time that you made a list?

Last Friday was a momentous day. Admit it. We all overdid it at Christmas, eating and drinking with reckless abandonment. I received my share of chocolates. No. That’s an understatement. I received enough chocolate that would have made Willy Wonka proud. After gagging down one more piece on New Year’s Eve, I decided to do the prudent thing and freeze the rest. There were enough chocolates still remaining to almost fill a large Ziplock bag. Out of sight. Out of mind.

Not so fast.

While the imminent temptation was removed, I knew that the chocolates were only a scant few feet away. My strategy was to grab a few, every once in a while, to satisfy my cravings. A few grew to many, and the frequency was almost daily. I am proud to announce that the Ziplock bag now lies forlorn with my other used freezer bags.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years’ time?

Eating chocolates… with any luck!

Absurdity? Irony?

I am at a loss for the proper word.

A few weeks ago, I decided to make a minor change to my homeowner’s insurance policy. I came home from school a few days ago and my mailbox was bursting at the seams. I thought it might be a backlog of Christmas cards. Nope. My insurer sent me seven (7) envelopes confirming the recent changes to my policy. On the front of the envelopes in big bold letters was the following:

“WANT TO CUT DOWN ON PAPERWORK?”

To avoid a charge of slander, I will not mention the name of the company but take a gander.

“And isn’t it ironic?

Don’t you think?

A little too ironic,

And yeah, I really do think.”      

Spot on, Alanis.

 

Posted on January 15, 2025 under Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom with one comment

Isn’t it grand

 

“Regrets, I’ve had a few,

But then again, too few to mention.”

My Way – Frank Sinatra

How often have you heard something like this:

“I wish I had started saving money at a younger age.”

“I wish I had kept taking piano lessons when I was young.”

“I wish I had been a better student in school.”

“I wish that I hadn’t started smoking when I was a teenager.”

“I wish that I was 20 pounds lighter (or 20 years younger!)”

“I wish that I had travelled more.”

We all have regrets. The trick is to have as few as possible and then to let them go. Living in the past is not very productive unless you believe in second chances. Or you believe in time travel.  Marty McFly comes to mind. People spend so much energy rehashing and dissecting the past that it saps their energy for living in the present.

What if you happen to be in the later innings of life and feel that you could have done more or done better?

I’ve heard this expression many times before and it’s worth repeating. The best time to plant an apple tree was 25 years ago. The next best time to plant an apple tree is now.

It sounds crazy but it’s never too late to start saving money. It’s not likely that you will amass a fortune, but the act of saving is something positive. Give up one Timmies a week and put the money in a jar. You just saved $150 and at the end of the year you can treat a friend to a fancy dinner.

So, you quit taking piano (guitar, flute) lessons when you were a teenager. Your parents nagged you to death. Instead of watching endless hours of traumatizing news, grab that old Gibson guitar, dust it off and start crooning once again. You likely won’t end up being a headliner in Vegas, but you could possibly discover immense pleasure in playing Country Roads once again.

I am not especially happy with my university years. I could have partied less and studied more. Recently, I decided to try and assuage my guilt by rereading some of the classics that didn’t get the full treatment 50 years ago. Presently, I’m reading A Tale of Two Cities, the Charles Dickens classic. It’s more than 1,000 pages of the smallest print imaginable. My goal is to not go blind before finishing it! And, like my good friend, Dawn, you could go back and take some university classes in your golden years. Many universities offer courses for free to seniors.

Still smoking? I know lots of people (some by choice and many through necessity) who quit smoking in their 70s and 80s. Will it extend your life? Not necessarily but it might improve the quality of the years that you have left.

It’s quite normal to put on weight with the passage of time. We’re not climbing a lot of trees these days or running through forests making forts. Climbing a set of stairs is challenging enough. We’re more sedentary in retirement. I can tell you from vast experience, that losing weight is no fun and it’s hard work. However, the rewards and the satisfaction of being able to get into your old bell-bottom jeans (only joking!) is worth the effort.

There are so many days that I wish I was 20 years younger but an equal number of days that I’m overjoyed to be the age that I am. I can tell you one thing. Having spent the past number of years teaching, I wouldn’t want to be a teenager or the parent of a teenager in 2025.

Never been on a cruise? Never been to a country you’ve always wanted to visit? Yes. I know that travel is expensive, time consuming and more challenging these days than it once was. If you have the means, why not plan a trip? What are you waiting for? There’s still time.

It’s high time to bury your regrets, IMHO.

Next time you’re taking out the trash, toss in a bag of regrets. Make sure you put them in the garbage and not in the recycling container!

Have a great weekend.

 

 

Posted on January 8, 2025 under Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom with 6 comments

Colour my world

 

“The world is black, the world is white,

It turns by day and then by night,

A child is Black, a child is white,

The whole world looks upon the sight,

A beautiful sight.”

Black and White – Three Dog Night

What is your favourite colour?

Our first formal introduction to colour typically happens when we start school or daycare. We learn our primary colours and we begin to experiment in art class. As we grow older, we begin to notice all the colours around us. We marvel at sunrises and sunsets and if we’re lucky, we get the witness the sheer awesomeness of the Northern Lights with the many colours of the rainbow dipping and dancing in the sky.

Last week, school resumed and lo and behold, I was asked to fill in for the woodworking instructor. The teacher left a lesson plan and one section was highlighted: NO TOOL USE PERMITTED. I wasn’t sure if that comment was directed towards me or my students! Most woodworking shops have a room dedicated to painting. I poked my head in and saw this long table splattered with every colour of the rainbow.

Red, Red Wine.

How do you view the world? Do you see it in “black and white” with no room for other colours to seep in? There are people who fit this description to a T. There is no gray in their world. Their universe is comprised of absolutes. These are people to be avoided at all costs.

Yellow Submarine.

There is nothing more colourful than a rainbow unless you consider my language when something goes wonky with my computer. In recent times, the rainbow has taken on a different connotation – with apologies to those whose pets have crossed over the rainbow bridge. The LBGTQ community has adopted the rainbow as its symbol. Gilbert Baker, a gay artist is credited with this. He wanted to make a proud statement through a symbol showing diversity.

Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain

I am old and must admit that I don’t completely understand the subtleties of gender identity. But it’s never too late to learn. During a lunch break at school before Christmas, I joined a group of students, members of the school’s GSA. For many years, this moniker meant “Gay Straight Alliance” but has been changed in recent years to “Gender and Sexuality Alliance”, a term more inclusive to students on the gender spectrum. (Thanks EB for the distinction)

You couldn’t find a more pleasant group of young people. It’s not easy being perceived as “different”. When I was their age, there were students who would have been thrilled to have the comfort and safety of a GSA group. Like many before them and to this day, students who didn’t fit in were and are the subject of bullying. Sad but true.

If we are going to preach tolerance to students, then we must ourselves learn to be more tolerant.

Getting better educated is a start.

The Green Green Grass of Home.

Another class that I monitored was grade 7 Social Studies. As this was the first class of the new calendar year, I asked them to give me an overview of what they had been studying from September to December. They informed me that they had been researching the Gaels, Acadians, MicMacs and African Nova Scotians. Common themes were racism and discrimination.

Unfortunately, racism remains alive and well and seems to be thriving in an intolerant world. Why are people still subjected to racial taunts because of the colour of their skin?

Paint it Black/Purple Rain/A Whiter Shade of Pale/Brown Eyed Girl.

My late brother Tom taught me a valuable lesson about colours many years ago on a long walk. I asked him how he kept his mind occupied when he was walking for hours. His answer startled me. “Do you know how many different shades of green there are? When I walk, I pick out a colour and try and see how many variations of the colour I can find.”

What if we were all colour blind? In many ways this might solve some of our racial problems.

However, we wouldn’t have all these great songs with colour in their title!

Grab a paintbrush. Make a splash. Colour your world.

Make all the colours of the rainbow your favourite.

“There is a blue one,

 Who can’t accept the green one,

For livin’ with a fat one,

 Tryin’ to be a skinny one,

Different strokes for different folks.”

Everyday People – Sly and the Family Stone

Be audacious. Be outrageous.

But most of all, be tolerant.

The world is not black and white.

 

When high winds wreak havoc with your cable