Cs ra One Day at a Time There is a story about a ninety three year old woman who finally conceded that she couldn't live alone any longer. After much thought she decided that she didn't want to live with her daughter, so she went to check out a local nursing home. After one look at a large room where older people sat silently staring into space she RT RT STE Time..." RB RT BB Toms ovis A happy little child aged 3 months takes her life "One Smile at a and will have to grow into taking it one meal at a time, and eventually, one day at a time. pa mem OU'TE just a sour-dumpling. What's #8 wrong? What's changed? A You BECOME 21, you & = TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. : : ® Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all § 1 slipping away. Before you know it, = you REACH 50... and your dreams are gone. But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would! Se you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60. You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by- day thing; you HIT Wednesday! quipped, "Well, one thing is for sure; if [ come here, I wish to turn this waiting room into a living room!" Try to think of the last time you said to yourself these two words "I WISH...." Iwish I had done; I wish I could; I wish that; I wish for... and many more besides. It is a phrase we often use quite casually, never really expecting what we wish for, to happen. Yet once in a while we say these words and really mean them, wishing that we could change an event or situation in our lives. Today I am going to say, "I wish I had written the words that follow." Few pieces of prose have so much insight, and we cannot fail to read these words and not make a connection for ourselves. The words are of course George Carlin's, "View on Ageing," and here they are for your enjoyment. View on Ageing Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in frac- tions. "How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key. You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead. "How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life... you be- come 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony... YOU BECOME 21! YESSSS!!! But then you turn 30. Ooooh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk. He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, You get into your 80s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bed- time. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; "I was JUST 92." Then a strange thing hap- pens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!" May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a halfl! In this little piece George Carlin has managed to let the ageing process, and the human psyche, speak for itself. He reminds us of feelings like; excitement, anticipation, arrival, survival, and revival, and in the process paints a unique picture. The truth is that we have a different per- spective on age depending on our vantage point. We have all felt indestructible at some time or another, believing that the 'bad stuff" happens to other people and will never touch our lives. We have even felt very vulnerable from time to time and have been reduced to celebrating life, not in years, but day by day. But it is hard to worry about becoming 40 when you are seven and three quarters and will be eight in July. So what's the secret to HAPPY © longevity? How about the KISS principal? K eep It S imple Stupid. These famous words: "Keep It Simple Stupid." All too often we add stress to our lives and over-complicate them in our anxious attempts to secure happiness, forgetting that happiness can come in a sunrise or sunset; a rainbow or a flower; the laugh of a child or the smile of a senior. © a Continued on page 14