We often think that life mysteriously changes course right under our noses. There is nothing obscure at all in life. Once you have a motive or intent for something that happens you usually can make sense of it. That doesn't mean you are going to like it particularly, but it does mean you probably end up knowing why it happened in the first place.
I have really been working on living in the 'now' for the last few years. For me it seems most important to live in the present, especially since I turned sixty-plus. When I was young my ability to live in the moment was almost instinctual. Today, I must consciously do it. But that is alright, because I want to enjoy my retirement whilst I can still keep my brain and wits active.
My spiritual life has a lot to do with it. For me, the God of my understanding has never been my co-pilot. He has always been the pilot in my life. I always try to ask what He wants me to do or not do in a situation first, then I wait for His answer, and then, at the best of times, I do His will. The miracles are His, the schlepping is mine. I am His servant by choice.
Everything would be fantastic every day in a perfect world. However, there are three main things that could foul up this wonderful recipe. 1. My non-Godly directed free will, 2. Everybody else with free will, and 3. Everything else in the world that is man-made or controlled. So my friends, that is one of the reasons I pray daily so that I can keep myself in some kind of spiritual check. But if I miss a day, that can put me sorely off balance.
I thought it sounded rather boring when I started my journey in the late seventies; but it definitely isn't, for the most part. If I want a good life I know I should happily and cheerfully give myself daily to Him and He will give me a happy and interesting life back one day at a time.
I am most content when I envision my home, inside of me, as an English Country Cottage with a beautiful garden. When I am not content it feels more like a Mud Hut. I am not perfect; but a lot of days lately I have been waking up in the lovely English Country Cottage.
I know I could explain this much more academically; but I like to see things simply day to day. Besides I know the underlying theory is there. So what does my spiritual journey have to do with my retirement? Easy! One needs an inner life. It is a new chapter in my life and it deserves to be written properly.
Lately, I have heard people say things like "Treat her well, she isn't going to be around that much longer." and "Just keep her busy for awhile." I don't think in terms of being on my 'last legs'. To me that is like being a little bit pregnant. One is with child or not. One is alive or dead. There is no in-between unless you are in an intensive care unit. For me life is still full tilt, just that now it is not so physical.
It is extremely important that humanity works at being the best they can be. Man must not be the biggest money maker, the most self involved narcissist, the power hungry liar, the thief, murderer by proxy if not in real time, and jealous abuser, to name a few.
My mother used to say a little verse whenever frustration invaded us or we needed an emotional boost. " The world is so full of a number of things, I am sure we should all be as happy as kings!" This is from A Child's Book of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. I know my mother saw its meaning in two ways. It was either a 'statement of fact' or a tongue in cheek thought. I suppose I took on the former meaning when I was younger; but since the world has become so very ill ecologically, I kind of think in terms of the latter meaning now.