Yesterday I asked a kid at the gym if I could work in with him on a machine that isolates your biceps. It helps provide a finished look or so I have thought of it for the past 30 some years.
He was working out with weights I used to handle easily and for a moment I thought about not pulling anything off of it.
That was ego speaking, I liked the idea of surprising him with old man strength. It has been said about me a few times at the gym and it always makes me chuckle because I don’t think of myself as being old, but they do.
But I made my ego shut up and I took some weight off because I didn’t want to get hurt. I didn’t want to strain anything and have it impede my progress.
Several hours later I got word of the terrorist assault in Israel and started to watch some of the videos that were being sent to me.
It was disturbing, infuriating and upsetting and I began to think again about how life can turn on a dime.
The Music Plays
It took a long while to fall asleep and I worried about how much worse things might be when I woke up Saturday morning.
My concern was well founded and inside my head I could hear some of the music from here playing.
I spent large chunks of the day watching/reading the news and communicating with friends and family in Israel.
Some said they were ok but talked about rockets flying everywhere and others shared stories about being called up and or how their children were heading out.
Every one of them knows people at immediate risk of harm because they are heading off to fight.
I read a post about a blogger I know whose son is among the kidnapped and thought about how awful it must be for them and so many others.
For the first time in forever I picked up my phone to call Dad and discuss it and then stopped because he isn’t going to answer.
Spent time answering questions from people who reached out to ask for explanations and then encountered many of the people who think Jewish blood is cheap.
So many of them made excuses for the violence and suggested that people who were executed in their homes and or murdered in cars somehow deserved it because of things the government did.
It is going to get uglier before it gets better and the ugly is probably going to need to be uglier than we have seen in quite some time, if ever.
It is hard to type those words when I know those who will be doling out the response are not myself or my children.
But they very well might be members of my family or the children of friends so there is skin in the game. And given those who make excuses for the execution of civilians it reminds me that our skin really is in this.
Because there are still too many who think Jewish blood is cheap.
Still I need to laud the many who don’t and who see people as people. I need to speak of the large numbers of very good people who are out there because they exist.
Some may call it pollyannish and I am ok with that. I am not afraid of doing what needs to be done and accepting there are very bad people, but I do believe the good out number the bad.
The biggest issue is many will let bad things happen to others because it is easier than getting involved. That is a sad reality that touches all people, all races, all creeds.
Some will always standby and watch but there are those who act and we are better for them.
The Joy Of Doctors
Calendar says I have another appointment this coming week and I shake my head because it feels like this is all I do–go to doctors.
I know that to be an exaggeration and that some of these visits are the regular quarterly or annual visit that are just intersecting with each other.
The overlap is making me a little crazy and part of me says isn’t getting older great. But then I think about all of the people who aren’t getting that chance and reminded that aging can be a privilege.
Tomorrow I will wake up and check the news to see if anything changes between the time I lay my head down and then.
Tomorrow I will have breakfast with my college girl who came home for the weekend and then send her back to school.
Tomorrow I will have a conversation with my son and remember that life can turn on a dime. I have experienced it first hand and seen it happen too many times to say otherwise.
But unlike many people I know I won’t wake up worried about the impact or war and or terror here. And if I am wrong it will unquestionably be because the unexpected and unlikely happened.
So I am grateful for what I have and hopeful even if hope isn’t a strategy that things will improve sooner than later for those in most need of it.
And most of all I want to live in ‘boring times’ when the headlines aren’t filled with stories about ‘unprecedented events’ here or abroad.
Leave a Reply