…OR, LIVING LIFE INTENTIONALLY
I am continuing to process through all the blog posts, posing the question “What will life look like because of what I learned?” in each post. The “Update 3-2024 Post” is the one I’ll be covering today. That post originally aired after several months of NO posts, since we were dealing with Denny’s death and relocating to Colorado… and trying to recover my mind. It was GONE!
Processing Dementia with Rose-Colored Glasses
I knew at that time that I needed to process through my husband’s dementia and my response to it. But it was too painful at that moment. So first, I decided to review other family dementia cases in the blog, remembering some of the BEAUTIFUL lessons I learned. I was hopeful to have some of that positivity reflected once I got around to processing husband Denny’s situation. I wanted to encourage others as well to keep alert for those precious times–times we should never forget–as a loved one sees something or speaks something beautiful. I thought and still think that those moments are worth living for…and for remembering.
Living Life Intentionally
So what will life look like now because of what I learned in the previous paragraphs? My takeaway is that we need to live life INTENTIONALLY — be actively looking and remembering precious moments. Each day is such a gift. What are we doing with our time?
I’ve been really fortunate to be living fairly closely to all three of my adult children and their families for this time in 2024. So I go do things I wouldn’t normally do. For instance, daughter Emma wanted to take her little soon-to-be-4-year-old to the Zoo last weekend. I relish my naps so much more after seeing this male Lion relish HIS nap! I love his paw sticking out of nowhere. And he was on a hard rock, and I have a soft bed. Makes me appreciate what I have…
Last year Teresa took me with her to watch her husband’s high school band competitions. The music and atmosphere was exhilarating to me! It makes me think of my parents meeting in their marching band when in college. And I love the drums so much! I can hardly wait to hear that drum line as they come down the street in the upcoming parades. I am tempted to take my drumsticks and practice as I watch them go by! So, I look forward to that inevitably invigorating parade music starting up again this fall. Here’s a pic of grandson getting to dress up and play his drum on Uncle Nick’s conductor podium on the football field last year. I am so grateful I got to see that IN PERSON!!
Every time I need to take care of my little grandson, I try to do one new suggestion from my cousin Anne, who has been supplying me with multiple projects to do with toddlers. The picture below shows me using blue floor tape to create parking spaces for my little one’s vehicles. He told me where to put each piece of tape and was so happy with the results! And, who knows? I may be training him to be a better parker down the “road”…
Family Music Performances
Son Byron also suggested we find an assisted living facility around here and see if they would let us come in as a family and play music for them. So that is on my to-do list too. I would love that so much. I remember going to Spring Wind Assisted Living in Laramie when my Dad was there, playing music for him and his fellow residents. That was a hoot. I remember one life-time friend of my Dad’s. Her name was Jo, and she was living in the same facility. Jo patiently listened to the beautiful slow musical passages, but when we hit a fast Dixieland tune, Jo jumped up, pumped her fist, and said, “Yes!!!!” She was waiting for some ACTION pieces!
Friend Hunting
I’ve also decided I need to make friends down in my new location. So I volunteered to step in to the role of my new church’s librarian and am finding interesting folks who love to read just like I do. Maybe I start a book club or discussion group. Who knows!
I’m also going to go to everything the women of the church plan together. They’ve already been calling me, which I think is so sweet. My kids will be relieved seeing me get out (without them). Sad thing this week is that we had a special coffee get-together that was supposed to be yesterday, where I would have gotten to know three new friends better. But I came down with a bad cold. Darn. It’s been so long since I’ve been sick… but when I DO get sick it is so hard to get well. Can’t quite figure that out. And I ALWAYS get sick at the end of August. But I’m glad I don’t have to go to a job and can instead stay home, sleep when I want, blow my nose ten million times, drink tea, sleep some more, blow my nose another ten million times…POOR NOSE!! With all that nose pinching, you’d think my nose would look like the following picture…all the time…but my nose is resilient. Hoping I am as resilient as my nose!
Living life intentionally–Setting Goals
So those are my stabs at living life intentionally, and–other than getting sick and having to blow my nose–I am already seeing great fruits. The reason I think it is so important to be INTENTIONAL about our living, is because it is SO EASY to get off track and feel worthless when we DON’T encourage ourselves to meet goals, to grow. So I guess “being intentional” is synonymous with setting goals! Why wait until New Year’s Day?? And why stop at small goals? What would be thought of as a big goal in life at this time? A goal that would be life-changing–not just for me, but for others?
I think I’ve set my sights too low. (Playing drums and tap-dancing will likely not make someone ELSE’s life much better… unless it makes them laugh. I guess that’s a possibility.) And this all has certainly set me to thinking. This post just got things moving for me. Gonna have some serious thought conversations with MYSELF.
3 thoughts on “What Will Life Look Like… because of the “What Happened? Update 3-2024” Post”
I think your learning to tap dance and play the drums DOES make other people’s lives better and not just if they laugh at you. It makes me happy to see that you are doing some things just because they make you happy, and to see you want to learn new things. I imagine similar feelings are shared by everyone who loves you. Just seeing you blossom adds to our lives, too! So please don’t sell yourself short and go have fun with your (noisy) new pursuits!
Thank you for your encouragement. I can’t believe I want to play drums and tapdance. But since I already invested $$ in the sticks, pad, and shoes, I will be calling for teachers this week or next probably. I got quite sick in the past week and am laying low! Anyway, drums and tapdance need to get out of my system, then maybe I’ll find more useful productive past-times… or not!
I think it’s wonderful that tap dance and drums interest you! Hard workers and overachieving people like us tend to think we always need to be productive. I figure we’ve given most of our adult lives to that and we, especially, are entitled to do things just for fun.