Met this lovely 86 year old patient in the office. She had her usual fair share of aches and pains. Arthritis had caught up with her and it showed. Difficulty walking, hard time sitting down for too long, trouble grasping objects with her hands, and of course the troublesome swelling of the joints. I greeted her as I do everyone.
“ Good morning, how are you doing today?”
A glance above her spectacles with slight annoyance at my question to which she replied, “ Old age is not for the faint hearted.”
I half smiled as I started feeling all the aches of my own hip and shoulder from exercising. “ As I get older I would have to agree with you.”
“ You know there are 2 things that I find good about getting older.” She stated.
“ And those are?” I asked.
“ I am old enough that people do not expect me to make sense anymore. I use that to my advantage. And that I am old enough to just speak my mind and people just have to accept what I say, so I get my way much of the time”
I laughed, “ right you are. I can see that happening for me as well. I am sure if I get old enough to talk nonsense, especially conspiracy theories, people will not take too much offense.”
She let out a guffaw. “ I speak a lot of nonsense, and people are forced to listen yet most of the time I am talking sense, but they don’t want to hear it, they think its rubbish.”
We continued our discussions about her illnesses and came to reasonable expectations of her future care and better health strategies.
“ you know I find it fun when I come to see you every 6 months.”
“ Oh?” I replied.
“ You treat like a human being, you see me for who I am, a crotchety old bag and don’t judge me. You meet me were I am at, and not where other doctors think I should be and yell at me for not carrying out their instructions.”
“ I get it. I realize I can’t force you to do anything, no sooner I can change the course of the wind, so why not have a good time helping you where you permit me to assist you. “ I noted.
“ Go with the flow?” She said.
“ Sort of. Yes, exactly. Go with the flow and let us see what we can achieve down the road.” I remarked cheekily.
I helped her out of her chair and we bid each other farewell, a sort of till next time sort of deal.
I got thinking as I walked back to my office room to dictate my note. What if I were to live in the flow in every moment. I feel the most alive when I am being present. What if I were to try that exercise more often? Go with the flow is my new motto. I am sure the universe will test my resolve on this matter at every instant from now on, but “ go with the flow “ seems to be a good enough idea to try something different, to create an alternate habit pattern.
Being present moment, translates to being in the flow. Flow means being alive. Alive means to be able to love.
…………….
I love you
