The less I do, the less I can do. That reminder is at eye level on my refrigerator door and I firmly believe it. When confronted with a task, it’s easy to think, that’s getting hard to do. I’m not going to do it anymore.
Earlier this summer, Lisa proposed that our family go zip lining to celebrate her birthday. I thought about it overnight and talked it over with Ken. For several years, my husband’s had acrophobia when he tried to climb a ladder. We decided we both would participate. I called our daughter to include us when she bought the advance tickets. We were committed. It turned out to be a beautiful, Sunday afternoon and the nine of us had a great time. The memory gives me a push to continue doing physical things. I remind myself, I crossed the shaky, wooden bridges that slanted uphill and climbed the spiral staircases to the nine platforms to do the zip lining. I have no excuse for not cleaning the house or other tasks I never did like doing. Sometimes I wonder if I’ve earned the right to retire from doing a hateful job, but I don’t really want to.
When my independent, octogenarian mother asked me to take over her checkbook because she was forgetting things, my reply was, “What are you forgetting?” The second the words were out of my mouth I realized how stupid it sounded. But, I hadn’t noticed any forgetfulness during my daily visits to her home. Apparently, she had. I always trusted my mother’s judgment. I began writing the checks to pay her monthly bills.
As we age, we need to decide whether it’s time to give up something we’ve always done or push to continue doing it. Our loved ones shouldn’t have to make these judgments.
How do you make these decisions?