Posted on 06/09/2024 4:09:56 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
I don't remember when I got old, it just happened. One day I turned around and discovered I was an old man. Thinking back on it I think it was after my wife died. When Sheila died it took all the wind out of my sails. I'm now adrift, without rudder, without anchor and without a North Star. The bilge water is creeping up and threatening to put the fires out for good.
If you've ever experienced being dead in the water in the middle of an ocean, that's how I'm feeling right now. It's a surreal feeling.
'O God, thy sea is so great and my boat is so small.'
This thread really hits home for me. Thanks Mr Robinson. Original post and others all I’ve experienced. Got to get back to looking at the ocean it’s only 5 minutes away and it’s been months. Got to ignore the pain and just move have found new minor things I like and are fun so focus on that. Diana I replied to you because I really hate the 50 pound feed bag thing they load them at the store but l have to take something and put stuff in buckets for just the few pounds I can manage
Thanks. I won the 1985 cancer battle. This
one is treated with a Whipple procedure. Significant rearrangement. If it hasn’t spread and the Whipple gets it all, the outcome can be very good.
That’s exactly how I’ve been feeling since the death of my son last summer. It’ll be a year on June 19th. I can’t imagine my life ever getting better but I just keep plowing on because I still have my husband, 2 daughters, and 3 grandchildren to look after. Grief is all encompassing and insidious.
The experts (psychologists) tell us the deepest emotion we can experience is grief. You can hate someone fiercely, you can love someone deeply but grief surpasses them. I think they're right.
My paternal grandmother was put in a nursing home and she hated it. I hated to see her miserable but there was nothing I could do. Her last words to me "Don't ever grow old". I'm not sure how helpful that was to me at the time but I'll never forget them.
There's a verse in the song in "My Generation" that puzzled me when I first heard it (teenager), "I hope I die before I get old". The older you get, the more funerals you go to, death doesn't seem like the boogieman we instinctively fear. I'm not trying to be morbid, but I hope when my time comes I say "I'm ready and have no fear but only hope in my Redeemer".
Jiminy Barkng Cricket.
I’ll be adding you to my prayer list, Myrddin.
I pray Our Lord gives you the specific wisdom and comfort you need at this time.
We are all on your side, Jim, and lift you up together in prayer.
To: Jim Robinson
I’ll be 83yo in seven weeks. Here’s a bit of advice. Stay busy and stay focused on whatever you’re busy doing. IOW, live for and in the present moment. Get yesterday’s life out of your mind, because thinking about the past will exacerbate depressing thoughts and trigger depression. When it’s time for bed in the evening you should feel worn out from the day’s activities and sleep should come rapidly.
Try to minimize the amount of time you’re by yourself. Stay engaged with others, many others. If possible, seek out others in distress who will welcome anything you can do to help them. You’ve been a great inspiration to me and to countless others, as all on this thread have acknowledged.
Godspeed!
You are a Blessing for so many. Someone mentioned that everyone on FR owes you a debt of gratitude. I know that I do. You’re an inspiration.
At 74, both my husband and I are finding new physical limitations... which are discouraging and frustrating!
You are in our prayers. I believe God continues to have important things purposed for you.. maybe just at a slower pace ?!?! The Spirit of God dwells in and empowers your faith.
Let me share my husband’s favorite passage: “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” -James 2:1-4, 12.
Thanks. I’m 77 this year. Every day is a blessing. Enjoy life until your last breath.
Read your opening note, then many/most of the comments.
What occurs to me is “It’s a Wonderful Life”. It’s almost like Capra had you in mind, Jim Robinson. May the Lord fill your heart with wonder and gratitude (the Lord loves a grateful servant). And may the Lord make His countenance to shine upon you, and light up the rest of your days. Amen.
I'm only in my 60s, so old but not yet elderly, and yet, it's not as nice as it sounded in the brochure.
Jim, you are not flowing. I know, I have been there.
I have said it before, but at the risk of a ban, please try Traditional Chinese Medicine. The Chinese truly came up with something miraculous. Over 6,000 years real geniuses drew connections between how the brain works, and how the body worked, they created categories of illness/imbalance, categories of emotions which accompanied them, ways all of it interact to produce a functioning whole, they divined meridians on the body which connected it all, and a number of really potent herbs which could restore balance if used the right way. Then they developed all different ways to bring it all in harmony, and make it all flow.
And Western medicine sees it work, and has no idea how. Blood flow to an area increases, areas of the brain which were dark light up on MRI. Biomarkers improve. It works.
I went when I was really screwed up, at the behest of a friend, it changed my life. In two months, I went from fully broken to a feeling I could only describe as bulletproof, which is what happens when everything is in balance, and flowing.
Find a local TCM practitioner, ideally who does both the herbal and acupuncture. Look on Google and Yelp, at their reviews. No less than a decade of experience, and great reviews, ideally for a specific complaint you have, which means they know that pattern well.
It is a gift from God, and so are you. It is a perfect match. Please try it. Look on it as being an explorer, and taking an adventure which you have no idea where it will go. It will change your life like it did mine.
You have changed a ton of lives here for the better immeasurably. Hell, if not for you, Buckhead would not have exposed Rather, and we would still be listening to that jackass. Please take care of changing your own life for the better, just once.
When I had cancer and things looked really bad, before that miracle (among so many), someone sent me this Jer 29:11 -
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jim - watch for the miracles, and look to your heart, for that is the dwelling place of wisdom and courage.
Forget the brain - it’s a dangerous thing at best. This is what I have learned. God bless.
[When I realized I was getting old, I stopped getting haircuts.
It does suck and it comes up suddenly.
Hope you are doing well.]
Like you, my mind remains sharp, but my body is definitely 73.
There’s a bunch of us in the boat with you.
Maybe it would give you some comfort to reflect on what an important influence you have been on conservatism.
Best regards,
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