How do People do it?

I’m talking about working in their later years.  I was lying in bed Friday night wondering about that as every bone in my body ached.  I know it didn’t help that I only got 2-3 hours of sleep the night before.  Sleep does wonders to help rejuvenate the body but much of the time it eludes me.  When that alarm goes off, it’s time to hit the floor running whether you slept or not.

Then I scold myself when I think about how many of my coworkers are older than I am.  I was wondering how I can still be working like that in my 80’s.  Yes, you heard that right.  I do have coworkers in their 80’s.  We probably have at least three people this age, several in their 70’s, quite a few in their 50’s and 60’s.  Our youngest coworker is about 23.  As you can see, there are a wide range of people doing food demos.

This job requires standing in one place for six and one-half hours daily unless you do breaks for lunches.  But this breaker shift requires one to be fast on their feet so you stay on schedule.  This fast pace will keep you in shape as you power walk from one end of the store to the other several times and it flies by because there are a variety of demos to do for others that are on their break.

Standing for a full shift is difficult, but most of the time I’m so busy I don’t realize how tired my legs and feet are until I sit down in the car to drive home.  The first thing I want to do is get my shoes and socks off and change clothes.  I’ve been taking a tank top along to work so I can change after my shift.  A shirt with a collar and sleeves is very hot in triple digit heat.  Most of us keep flips flops in the car.  At least I can drive home in comfort.

 Sometimes this is me - thinking about everything under the sun instead of winding down and trying to sleep

 

I still wonder how the 80-somethings keep doing this though.  But they all have a big smile on their faces and put in the hours each week.  Am I that out of shape?  I didn’t think so, but I may have to contemplate that a bit more.  Maybe daily exercise and watching what I eat isn’t enough. 

Of course, after all this thinking, when I looked over at the clock it was 3 AM.  I hadn’t been to sleep yet.  Then I started asking myself, “Are you crazy?”  I don’t know why I do all this thinking at night.  I guess I’m too busy the rest of the time.

Pondering at night

Clipart

I always seem to ponder or become philosophical about things in life, as I lie awake at night listening to my husband sleep.  Insomnia is a big issue for me, or perhaps this is my only quiet thinking time.

You would never believe the things that go through my head, usually stemming from some recent news or event, gathering momentum to reach out from there to other people and things like the tentacles of an octopus unfurling and stretching.

I should really get up and write some of this stuff down but I’m trying to sleep.

Sometimes I wonder how my family can be so different from each other in their thoughts, beliefs and expectations in life when we all grew up in the same house under the same conditions.  I won’t go into any particular situation regarding this, but it really makes me think and wonder where attitudes come from.

I always thought the adult that you become forms in the early years of your life, but now, I’m not so sure about that.  I think everyone’s life experiences also play a big role.  We have to face the fact that certain people have an influence on us in a big way.  It’s not only people we meet in the course of our lives, but also places we’ve visited or lived, adventures we were daring enough to try or not, different philosophies and outlooks presented to us by people or books we’ve read.  Even certain movies can have an impact.

We all have choices as well and the choices put us into situations that may change the outcome of our lives later down the road, whether this happens literally, or in the way that we think and view things yet to come.

As I said, once we reach adulthood we all make life choices. Every choice affects the outcome of our lives as human beings.  I’m not just pondering spiritual choices or lack there of, but other things as well, such as diet, exercise, associations with people we view as friends or foes, and family.  Even books we read have an influence.  If only on a subconscious level, they plant seeds in our brains to make us think and learn.  All of these things, plus many more, has an effect on us in either a positive or a negative way.  Sometimes these choices can cause lifelong affects, such as illness or lives of crime if we associate with the wrong people.  It’s important to be wise before we leap.

We all have the ability to be independent or dependent, positive or negative, gung-ho or passive about things facing us.  I’m sure we all wish we had a crystal ball too, so that we could view the future.  That would certainly help us make the right decisions today.

But as humans, we all have to do the best we can with the info we have at the time.  Every experience is a learning one, if we only pay attention to the lesson there for us to see.

Being the writer I am, sometimes I try to work out issues between my characters instead of sleeping, but usually my mind delves into life’s bigger matters as the hours tick by on the clock.  I don’t know why.  Do any of you ever do this?