Just Running Scared

Cannot remember if I was once a very young lad (I’m in my twilight years), but there are no doubts that every so often, I would perceive a ghost in the house or behind a tree at night. It also seems that there was a teacher who scared the daylights out of me when she threw a piece of chalk at me. And there were a few two-legged creepy things walking the streets that made my feet do their stuff.

As the years crept by, I suddenly discovered the opposite sex, and found my happy self wanting to impress them for some reason or other. Why, I don’t know, but my bravery level went sky high, and the chase was on. Sometimes, being a bit too forward, I think I scared the tar out of some of them…and of course, after 2 or 3 of them let me know that just because I was strong as an ox, it was not going to stop them from diverting my intention of ______________(you fill in the black space) . It had never crossed my mind that a female who looked so thin and frail could grab my attention so fast and hard…it was my turn to be scared of them!

Then, at 18, I figured it was time to become a “young adult.” It was now my privilege to go out into the jungle of this world, and earn a living. Not a problem! All I had to do was impress a few folks that I was the one they were looking for, pick up a few paychecks, purchase a 1957 Chevrolet Bel-Air convertible ( I love them), get my own “pad”, locate some of those females that had impressed me with how they turned out (my hormones were still at warp 9), and I would be one happy dude.

Things were great until one day, when I was shaving, there was a stranger looking back at me….aaaaaaaaahhh! Once again, I got scared when my fear emotion kicked in. What the heck happened? I figured that Mother Nature had beat the tar out of me with an old and ugly tree limb – and I didn’t even know it! My teenage body, hair, and a few other things had ran off to find a younger host.

A fellow knows he is real trouble, when trying to really impress a young lady, and she says something to the effect “You sure are in great shape --- for a man your age!” My mind silently went aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh …again! Suddenly realizing that this “bag of mostly water” (me) was in my autumn years, I knew I had to make some changes…I was running scared again!

Not having even typed on a computer before, my 62 year old body and mind purchased a good used laptop…I stopped living in the 50s just long enough to buy it, and took it back to the 50s with me. After scrambling all over the internet for all types of advice, it finally dawned on me that it wasn’t going to be that hard to change…because it’s only magic until you know what the magician knows.

According to all the advice, all I had to do was make a list of all the healthy foods and vitamins I needed. Then set up an exercise schedule, discipline my mind, and go for it. And you know what? It worked!

Today, even though I am now 69, went through open-heart surgery, my hormones are still at warp 9 (and my body is in sub-warp), and even though I can only do the slow dances and the waltz, I am still a happy dude!

For what it is worth to you folks, changing yourself for the better in every way is, as far as I’m concerned, only a matter of making a list of what you wish to change, laying out the steps needed to complete those changes, and accomplishing at least one step per day --- at least one! Trust me, if you do that, you will one day wake up, look in the mirror, and realize that most of, if not all, money problems have been solved, you read and write about many subjects, you look and feel better, your confidence is higher, you actually look forward to getting out of bed, you are more interesting to be with, have more friends, and most importantly, that you can do even more.

The hardest part for this set of organic DNA and bones, was making myself accomplish the steps needed on the lists. And the way I over came that was by asking my happy self a question: “Isn’t my family, friends, and especially me, worth it? Imagine what you will discover next!