Change Course Of Action

The other day traveling home on the bus, we reached one of the main roundabouts in town.On the way around there were four cars that had stopped.  Apparently one car had changed lanes suddenly and bumped into another car causing a literal knock-on effect with the cars that followed.  Hence four cars all blocking the roundabout causing mayhem with the traffic.There didn't seem to be anyone hurt but a few irate drivers getting out of their vehicles to protest and look at the damage and take down insurance details.  No doubt for some it will mean a trip to the mechanic at the garage to sort out any problems that might have been caused and maybe a little paint job and the cars will look like new again.


I remember when I was a driver, how every year I would take the car to my friend at his garage in order for him to sort out any problems in order to get it through its MOT.  Wear and tear generally means that there was something to be done in order to get the car up to proper working order and efficiency.  The thing is as with most things, we can make do and mend for a while but there comes a time when we can't really fix the problems any more and things need to be replaced.  There is a time for more drastic action to be taken, when continuing with the same thing doesn't work any more.


This week I had my annual check up at the optician's.  I go every year.  A bit like an optical MOT.  I know that my eyes have gradually been getting worse over the past number of years because of cataracts.  That's partly the reason why I don't drive anymore.  There were all the usual procedures - shining a bright light and looking into my eyes or rather right through my eyes, how far down the board can you read?, can you see more clearly with this lens than with that lens etc etc etc.  The verdict eventually, after getting a second opinion from a more senior optician, was that it was not worth giving me glasses with new lenses as really I had reached the point that the best option was to have eye surgery to remove the cataracts that were causing the bad eyesight.  



There are occasions when surgery would seem a rather daunting prospect but in this case it was what I was hoping for.  There comes a time when trying to make the best of a situation becomes tiresome.  We just want a solution.  We want it sorted once and for all.  And after a number of years of having a change of prescription for my spectacles and having some improvement for a few months before it eventually got worse ... again...  it was kind of a relief to know that now at last there was going to be a solution.  How often do we just plod on in life, doing the same thing, sometimes reviving things a bit and then keep going when maybe it's time for a more drastic solution?  How often do we wonder, 'What's the point?  Why do I keep on doing this, going there, supporting that?  Nothing really changes.  Still the same old thing.when I yearn for more.  If things just aren't working any more then maybe it's time for something different.  Be brave, it'll be worth it.
   

Noticing The Familiar

When I receive an online order form my local supermarket, fruit and salad goods are put into a paper carrier bag.  The intention, of course, is to show just how 'green' they are by using paper carriers and not plastic bags.  (The fact that they still use plastic bags for other produce is beside the point!) This has been going on for quite some months so I was surprised the other day to notice something about the paper carrier that I hadn't noticed before.  Apart from their name, there was some other writing on the bag.  I read it and found that it was a useful tip for peeling root ginger.  Why hadn't I noticed that before?  I then started looking at other bags (I don't throw them away but keep them for recycling) to see how many other tips I had missed without realising.

They say that seeing is believing but actually when I read the tip about peeling ginger, I thought about it and then decided I needed to try it just to see if it was as they advocated - and yes, it works exactly as they say it will and so easy.  That's something I will be doing from now on.  Of course it could well be that other people already knew this but it was new to me.  It did set me thinking about how much I just glance over things out of familiarity without really noticing.  How much might I be missing?



We live in an instant, press-button world where things are done so quickly and for efficiency, so it's claimed.  The other day I read on a social media about someone who had gone walking with a friend who walked really slowly. The friend's reasoning behind this was, 'When we walk too fast, we forget to be with each other.'  I like that.  How often in life do we walk so fast that we forget to be present to the moment?  How often do we just skip over things without spending time to really notice or listen?  I guess that as a pensioner, I'm fortunate that I am able to spend possibly a little more time on things - or maybe it just takes me longer now to do things that I did more quickly before!  But seriously, we tend to fill our lives with busyness and so miss much that could be beneficial.  I remember when I first retired there was a real danger of suddenly overfilling my diary thinking that now I had nothing else to do!  Then you find that you're busier than when you had employment.

If only we took notice of God's wisdom, making sure that we have a day of rest.  For those whose 'day of rest' is actually quite busy, maybe you should choose another day to rest.  He also tells us 'Be still and know that I am God'. Stop, look and listen or we'll miss so much of real value, for us and for others.