Keeping life interesting can sometimes be a chore. A man can only recollect so many stories while lingering over a cup of decaf and a apple fritter, unless of course he starts making them up, which in Oklahoma is always a possibility. It should be noted for posterity that when a fib is told over dinner it's called stretching the truth, in a court of law it's called a lie. It should also be pointed out that while some people were assassinated others were shot. Do you know the difference? Doctor Martin Luther King junior was assassinated, Biggy Smalls was shot. So maybe it's not so much about how you died, rather how you lived that is the defining factor. Just remember when we split hairs our kids are watching us. This might not sound all that important on paper, but remember when we do that, we are teaching the next generation something about our society and in an even larger picture ourselves. Consider this, why would a crow go out and work for his dinner when he could simply wait for someone to spill a bag of curly fries in a parking lot? Many people are not aware of the five second rule, but north American birds absolutely depend on it. This goes back to my ongoing premise that anything that is worth doing is worth working for and the struggle for our mental health is no exception.
Recently I have touted the benefits of keeping life boring, but even that must be kept in check. Remember that a semi-boring life can be a blessing. When I speak of keeping life boring, I am talking about keeping drama out of our lives. Nobody needs drama! Life is all about using a measuring stick to contrast and compare. For instance, nothing makes us crave solitude like a house full of company that stays too long. This is a bit like my wife leaving for a trip, lingering at the front door and posing the question, "are you even going to miss me?" The only way that question can be answered is "I cannot possibly miss you if you don't leave first." She does not like that answer. The logic in life will not and cannot be squared with the fairy tales she was told as a little girl, and this angers her greatly. But a man has to shake up the status quo with his beloved every now and then just to keep the sparks flying. Now, back to having company. Grandma often said, "company and fish are the same in that they both start to stink after three days." That woman could nail a topic and cut through the BS of life quicker than anyone I've ever known. I couldn't shake her sayings out of my head even if I wanted to.
Not so long ago an elderly couple friend of mine ran into some trouble. It seems that dementia had totally ruined her husband's mind. Fast forward a couple of years and it seemed that she had no recourse but to institutionalize him. From there, you probably think you can write the rest of the story, he became depressed, and she started to thrive right? Wrong! Actually, just the opposite is true. Without him she has slipped into a deep dark depression, on the other hand he has started to perk up from being around other people his own age. Being able to share his war stories with other people who were actually in the war has been good for him. He and his new pals have a poker game every night of the week unless one of them forgets which is often. He has also gotten himself a girlfriend simply because his mind has forgotten that he was married which is not helping his wife's state of mind either. He also calls his nurse hot stuff and claims that she (and I quote) "gives great sponge." That last quote made even me blush. On one hand there is nothing funnier than an old codger who has lost the filter between his brain and his tongue; on a sadder note, he has nearly lost touch with his wife and kids. But also, back in the plus collum it seems he may just have a knack for standup comedy. So, it seems in every tragedy in life, somewhere there lies a win, even if it is just a field goal.
When it comes to maintaining my mental stability, I have a secret which I think my wife already knows. I am overly entertained (sometimes ridiculously so) with my own company. This strange condition is a double-edged sword simply because it makes the company of other just seem altogether unnecessary. I believe being totally entertained by my own thoughts is a trait handed down to me by my dad. Both he and I can spend hours alone and still manage to suck the marrow out of life. The upside of this condition is I spend so much time keeping my nose clean that I'll never have to worry about spending time in the state prison. My dad often said, "the secret of life is the pursuit of the secret of life." While that may sound a bit like a dog chasing its own tail it's also pretty profound, not to mention frustrating.
I have no doubt that one losing interest in their own life contributes to the high percentage of people with depression. Depression is a blanketed word used by the establishment that basically means the masses have lost the happiness in their lives. It means they usually stay in a foggy funk. But it should be pointed out that even though most of us strive for happiness it is just one of many emotions that are necessary to sustain life. It should also be pointed out in seriousness and in jest that happiness can be self-generated but, joy comes straight from the good Lord himself and CANNOT be taken away from you. This reminds me of a saying by an old welder I used to work for as a kid, "hobbies cost money, but interests are free." This is to say that our yearly net salaries cannot dictate if we stay engaged and curious about our own lives. All I'm asking you to do is think about it.
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