One of the laptops we use for work has been unusable for a couple months. However, there seems nothing physically wrong with it. As a blogger and a dog-less dog-man, I can relate. Dozens of drafts that I refused to publish were only a symptom of my distraction. I spent more time staring at social media in 2022 than contributing to this blog. It is not that I was depressed, but prioritizing what few things I had desire and energy to commit.
Where a dozen years ago my wife and I were overcommitted to our individual jobs, running on Starbucks and dining out, starting our own business changed our lives. Even though days get busy with clients, and running a business is not necessarily a profitable enterprise, one of the best outcomes is purposely having time for family, each other and friends. Making time count is often a lesson that fall on deaf ears, as people struggle to make ends meet. A reset, clearing out the junk that clutter our homes and budgets, to instead, develop relationships is key to living well. Priorities became grandchildren whom we purposely see one or two times a week, friends dealing with loss of a loved one, and personally, my own health as I was fighting stubborn sinus issues and bronchitis. Things started down a path that, yesterday, I decided called for a “System Reset”.
Like the laptop I hope to reinvigorate with fresh software this morning, my wife and I are leaving in a few days to reinvigorate with a week’s vacation in Hawaii. Though going with friends to split lodging, we look forward to just having a time for us to dream how we will spend our Sixties. By today’s standards of health and predictions for longevity, we both are in middle-age. We actually celebrated recently her birthday billed as “SIXTY is the new Forty”. Part of a reset in 2024 is more than attitude, but a call to action. Though we started routinely spending Friday nights as game nights with a recently-widowed friend and his neighbors, it will be something we hope to continue for the foreseeable future. This week was also a time for our neighbors to rally, as I blogged yesterday, when a garage fire created chaos but also to look after another neighbor who got injured trying to help. Community is what contributes to living well and this year, we expect to do more to help others through faith in action. With a call to help our Rotary chapter expand some service projects and other efforts we joined last year, living with purpose continues. Twenty twenty-four will be a year to live like the “Blue Zone” centenarians. Their daily activities and diet follow the principle of staying active whether goat-herding, gardening or walking – everything in moderation.
I hope to spend 2024 pursuing things Mark Twain wrote and said at the beginning of the previous century:
You can’t reach old age by another man’s road. My habits protect my life but they would assassinate you
– 70th birthday speech, 1905
– Letter to Edward Dimmitt, 19 July 1901
Life should begin with age and its privileges and accumulations, and end with youth and its capacity to splendidly enjoy such advantages.
It's a Dog's Life 