Life is too short and precious...
Hi there,
Another busy week has gone by. Where do they go? The weeks, months and years flew by during my career as a teacher, but believe me, they go even more quickly in retirement. Life is too short and precious. My message to everybody is to keep busy once you have retired. It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you keep your body and mind functioning and enjoy what you are doing.
For the last 20 years, I have been a co-carer for a man who is now 36 years of age. My wife was the main carer but eventually gave up because of ill health after caring for him for 32 years. He is a charming young man who was diagnosed from an early age as being on the autistic spectrum. He also has severe learning difficulties and challenging behaviours. Two days during the week, he visits us for 2/3 hours after attending a Day Centre, and every Saturday morning, his big brother drops him off at our house for 5/6 hours.
He loves visiting us and has become part of the family. His main topics of interest are buses and cartoons. He can tell you all the local bus numbers and which villages, towns and cities they travel to. Every Saturday, he informs us where he wants to go and which bus to catch. ‘Tom and Jerry’ and ‘Mr Bean’ are his favourite cartoons, but he can name and watches most of all the other cartoon characters on TV. In his bedroom, he has a big collection of DVDs of all his favourites.
Yesterday, I took him to the pantomime to watch ‘Jack and the Beanstalk.’ He couldn’t stop laughing and loved the performance. Just watching him laugh made me laugh. Knowing that he has had a good time, goes home in a happy mood, and the family has benefitted from their respite makes me content.
On two other days this week, I played golf, my favourite hobby. The course was wet and muddy, but I still enjoyed being in the fresh air and exercising, even if my golf wasn’t up to standard.
Golf takes time to play, as does writing, being a carer and fitting in all the other domestic arrangements during the week.
Last week I mentioned the benefit of planning and setting achievable goals when writing. I want to add two more to that list – organisation and prioritising. Not only will these skills help with your writing but in life generally. Try them, particularly if you lead a busy life.
Until next time, happy reading.
Mansel