Daily Prompt: What if I were to wake up one day and realize I am ten years older than I was the previous night. How does this change my life plans?
Thinking ahead ten years and wondering how my life plans are affected is lost in a mist of uncertainty. In ten years I’ll be eighty-seven. I know I’ll be ten years older and then what? I can expect natural aging and the accompanying adjustments. I can’t know my unique situation. I think the life plans I’ve chosen will do just fine. Maybe.
It’s like I’m a pioneer ever traveling toward the horizon. I started out with my prairie schooner packed to bursting with necessary objects and some beloved and even frivolous things. As my journey unfolded I made my way through plains, valleys, rivers, mountains, dry desserts – whatever the journey required. Somewhere in the middle of my trip I began to shed non-essential stuff to lighten my load, only I had no plan for what to toss out and what to save. My load got lighter and lighter. That felt free and good. I got better at figuring out the true path for my life.
The person I was before awakening and finding myself ten years older had begun to make conscious decisions about sorting out what really matters for me. It was working out. What was missing was throwing caution to the winds and having a fling with whatever life throws at me. How I would love to be a gadfly for once in my responsible life.
poetrybyheart.me 
I appreciate reading your response to the prompt. When I read the challenge this morning I realized that I don’t really have an expectation that I will be alive in ten years. I don’t think there is any basis for that though. It is probably only because my mother died at 74. (I’m almost 66.) She lived a life that was full of cancer and I haven’t had that experience so my fantasy is probably not reality, but it is still there.
I like the images of you getting lighter and lighter. And l like the thought of you meeting your desire to become a gladfly. What would you be doing if you were a gladfly?
Thanks for your comment. I understand what it feels like to wonder if you’ll live longer than your mother. My parents died two years apart when I was in my mid 30’s. They were 64 and 66 and both died of heart conditions. Now that I’ve outlived them by over 10 years and have a healthy heart and life style I can imagine making it to 97. I have begun thinking of the possibility of having a great-grandchild.
If I were a gadfly I would throw away my to-do list and live moment by moment totally in the present. I call this living at the speed of now.
Interesting…… My mother had her first bout with cancer when she was 46. I remember the relief I felt each year I made it past that. Now I don’t often even think about it. My mother’s life and mine are so different from each others.
Have you tried being a gladfly for a day? Perhaps one day a week could be dedicated to that endeavor until the time comes that you want to dedicate even more time to that lifestyle!
Thanks for your suggestion of being a gadfly for a day. Once in a long while it happens when I’m not trying. I definitely feel my life loosening me from perceived to-do’s. I love the idea of dedicating more time to being a gadfly. I think I’m the only one who’s stopping me.
Let me know what happens!!!
I will. This morning I took my first step. My oldest son and his wife’s wedding anniversary is day after tomorrow. Instead of going out to buy a paper card I’m going to email them and remind them of a couple of good stories I remember from their wedding. Simpler and I think more meaningful.
Great idea!!! And congratulations on taking the first step….
You describe exactly what I need to do. I moved over a year ago and didn’t have either the time or energy to sort; you can imagine the mountain of stuff waiting to be, mostly, discarded. Sometimes I feel weighed down by it. You encourage me to keep going. A gadfly? I’ve been a bit of a butterfly. My first priorities right now are my writing practice, my garden and my health, then…but I confess, sometimes I forget about having fun.
Thanks for your comment. I’m glad I could encourage you. The boxes will eventually come to an end.
I’m glad you lightened your load, we are beasts of burden with the things we choose to be laden with. With regards to the gadfly- you do have a novel way of writing. 🙂
Thanks for your comment about my post and my writing.