Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
While working on a couple fingers of Mount Gay last evening, old #70 came around to visit. We mulled over all my unfulfilled hopes, dreams and aspirations for awhile, and then he lifted his size 12's and squashed 'em like a juicy old palmetto bug. A number of years ago, a very good author by the name of Robert James Waller enjoyed his few moments in the sun. One of the most popular quotes from his writings was "The old dreams were good dreams. They didn't work out, but I'm glad I had them." It took awhile, but those words eventually struck home. Still, I'm struggling with the "glad I had them" part.
A question for others who have also reached the "it's all downhill from here" point in life, whatever age that might have occurred. Setting aside for a moment those dreams of an ephereal nature, how are you coming to grips with the realization that if it hasn't happened by now, it probably ain't going to? Was there ever something you wanted so badly for years you could taste it, so badly you truly dreamed about it at night, then finally realized it would never be? After the hopes are gone, what's left?
I was a talented artist when young...then I hit the corporate America track to make a living. As the years progressed so did my full body tremor inherited from my father. My artistic talent hit the wall since I have a very hard time handling the brushes. I have to even hold my hand with the other hand to put on eye makeup.
It saddens me, but what do you do. I look at the paintings I did from long ago and say to myself "I did that and it was really good" and they are. At least I can say I did that and it helps.
I wish my marriage would have stood the test of time but you can't force someone to treat you well or to love you for that matter.
It is what it is. My life has been a wild ride and I would not trade it for anything.
PawleysDude, what does it mean to be "working on a couple fingers of Mount Gay"? The only thing I can think of is that Mount Gay is some sort of alcoholic drink. Did I guess correctly?
My fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Ross, saw that I loved to sing and she told me that someday she was going to come to see me sing at the Met. Well, she didn't take into account all my allergies and how they affected my voice. I still went into music and taught for many years. I am a soloist and voice teacher, having performed a full length recital and sang the lead in musicals, etc. Still, I'm glad I had the dream and have tried to instill that love of music to my students. The dream wasn't wasted in that I was able to see one of my former students debut at the Met in a leading role. Also, I've another student who is headed to Broadway and another who was just accepted into Carnegie Mellon's Musical Theater program. Another graduated from Manhattan School of Music and the list goes on. At least four that I can think of at the moment have become music teachers themselves. The dream was passed along.... I feel good about it. We plant in the garden we have, and learn to spread those seeds elsewhere too.
There's a distinction to be made between inevitable decline into senescence, and the making of a debilitating blunder. I'm younger than most people on this forum, yet even I am beyond the point of reaching say my maximum bench-pressing number; that peaked in my late 30s. Good practice and productive attitude will hopefully ensure a gentle glide-slope downwards, but some sort of slope is inevitable. The "serenity prayer" is no particular burden or imposition against our vanity, if the matter at hand is one of natural and inevitable decline, or limitation on our powers.
But the matter is starkly different, if we were in the ascendant stage, and then crushed or rudely diverted. An example would be say a medical doctor with a thriving practice, who slips up and commits some infraction not covered by malpractice insurance, and may even be blamed criminally - say for example for excessively prescribing opiates. This person enjoyed a fabulous income, community-prestige, a thriving medical practice. And now he/she is potentially bankrupt, with a ruined career, revoked medical license, and maybe a felony record. And this may happen at say age 50 - too old to start over, too young to retire, at least in conventional terms. What then?
Wasn't Reinhold Niebuhr just quoting St. Francis of Assisi with that?
According to Wiki it was attributed to Niebuhr. It also says that it was attributed to other people as well, but without evidence.
Spurious attributions[edit]
''The prayer has been variously attributed (without evidence) to Thomas Aquinas, Cicero, Augustine, Boethius, Marcus Aurelius,[18] Francis of Assisi,[19][better source needed] and Thomas More,[citation needed] among others.'' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_Prayer
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
