10 Commandments of aging
Jan 2001 Rushville // Farm Bureau
Bummy Basketti
A rainy day. Frankly, I’ve never liked water. Years of swim lessons.. hated them all.. then.. girl at town creek. Eventually……Lifeguard! Final test: three phases.. shallow water carry, save a fighting victim. … five laps of pool with clothes on… gradually took them off Jumped out of pool wearing only my skivvies. Local newspaper, the Pike Press, there that day. We’re now in the winter blahs. Those awful few weeks where everything seems stuck… everything looks bland…
Klinget Indians of Alaska had a trick for beating winter depression…they would strip their lodges down to the essentials.. greatest joy in the simplest things of life… a bare lodge meant appreciating what you have.
I want to give you only one real piece of advice… If you want to keep going during the long cold, Illinois winters, you’ve got to strip down to the essentials… drop the things that hold you back from truly enjoying what God has given you.. Jump out of the pool with your skivvies on.
As a result… My Ten Commandments Beating the Winter Blahs.
I can’t feature Charlton Heston coming down the mountain in his robe holding these. Think instead of Mel Gibson in cutoff jeans and holding beautifully wrapped present with your name on it. (And those of you who are still savoring the mental image of me standing beside the Pittsfield pool in wet skivvies… stop it!… You’ll miss the best part of my speech.
COMMANDMENT NUMBER ONE! Just when you think you’ve given all you have to give, Thou shalt Give More! I teach a generation of kids who need you very badly. -----Kidnap your grandkids from school and go for a picnic. They need you more than they need me. So what if you’re arrested? It’ll be a moment they’ll cherish forever. We often kidnap kids at camp.. 3 in the morning. You want to get depressed? Think about yourself. Want to feel great? Get involved with others. Albert Sweitzer… The only ones among you who will be truly happy in life are those who’ve sought and found out how to serve others. The self-help books are wrong.. Inner child. Spank him. He’s being selfish.
Just when you think you’ve given all you can give, Thou Shalt Give More!
COMMANDMENT #2 Thou shalt stop griping… Whoever said.. “Get it off your chest…” …… It brings you down and makes you a real pain to the rest of us. Charlie Rose… Johnstone.. nation’s leading architect as age 90. The hottest place in hell is reserved for gripers and complainers. “If life were 100 times longer, there would still be no excuse for getting bored.” USA Today.. interviewed a doctor who specialized in aging… “No matter what medicines I prescribe, those who complain less, live longer.”
COMMANDMENT #3: Thou Shalt Break The Dress Code…. (Not your employers, but your own personal…) Cardinals in my back yard.. much prettier than in the summer.. Why? No competition. Let the winter months be the ones when you really go wild.
Me.. no tie to church one day………. In other words.. be yourself… Jim Kern…… Mrs. Brown Quest Test of mental health… My Dad.. banker… bald… .Christmas tree on his head. This summer.... dress as a clown and drop his pants in front of hundreds of people. By the way, he’s 81.
COMMANDMENT # 4: Thou Shalt be an Encourager! Marie….. salt and pepper shakers Develop friends who encourage you.
I’m currently writing three plays at once … all due in the next month…while teaching school full-time and rehearsing a show at night.
I don’t need money, I don’t need a doctor or a carpenter or a dance teacher.. I simply need encouaragers. I don’t know what your bank account looks like, but I’d bet that the thing you need most in your life right now is a bit of encouragement.
COMMANDMENT #5: Thou Shalt not Take Yourself Too Seriously… Me: Chillocothe… Roger Ebert Book signing… me at one table, Coonridge (FMC) .. Dennis Rodman at the other.. I was selling more books.. He finally came over “Just who in the hell are you, anyway?” “Freida Marie Crump.” (a good day for cross-dressers) The difference in our happiness that day… I wasn’t expecting anything. He was. I wasn’t taking myself seriously and was having a ball.
COMMANDMENT # 6: Thou shalt turn your worry into prayer. New Book.. Don’t Sweat the Small stuff .. and It’s All Small Stuff. “When you die, your In Box won’t be empty.” You will NEVER get it all done. Billy Graham.. two ladies. And if you can’t stop, then make yourself a deal… for every minute worry: 1 min prayer. (If you’re an atheist, go hire a nice Baptist friend to pray for you. What’s it gonna hurt?)
Corrie Ten Boom; Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.
Last Day of school last year. Travis.. drug trouble.. meeting with superintendent.. Dylan came in.. I want to talk about Travis.. I think we should pray for him. Tears in supt’s eyes. (from Rushville) Turn your worry into prayer.
The Rushville community has recently been hit with a terrible tragedy. Our Triopia community is still recovering from one of our own. Terrible as these times can be, they are a time to grow if they’re turned into times of prayer. I stood in a long line at a funeral home visitation of our 40-year-old cheerleader sponsor and saw young people maturing before my very eyes. State IESA committee..annual meeting.. usually a long, hard, miserable day. We come from all over the state and often don’t agree. I dread it. I always feel like saying, “Can we just pray first?”.. but it’s a school thing… This year.. lady from Charleston… The tragedy in your community, when turned into prayer, can have far-reaching effects.
COMMANDMENT # 7: Thou Shalt Lighten up and live a little! Beardstown ladies… …. Sydney Australia.
Matt… baritone.
COMMANDMENT # 8: If winter’s getting you down…. Thou Shalt Cause a little trouble and get Rowdy.
PERRY: Pop Van Pelt… would go out into the back yard about ten o’clock at night and shoot off his shotgun. Town cop would go running down there. “Town’s too derned quiet.”
Good friend of mine in one of Jacksonville’s largest churches.. Would always attend the early service and sit up front. Shout “Amen!” Preacher: Could you restrain yourself a little? Friend: No. When I think of God I just get too excited.
COMMANDMENT # 9: THOU SHALT TAKE CHARGE OF THINE OWN MOODS. And not let the world do it for you. My great-grandmother’s diary… we found…Typical Day.. wash floors, milked then let the cows out to pasture, gathered the eggs.. then went upstairs and woke up the men for breakfast.” Every day: “This is just about the finest day ever.” Claude killed… “I buried my son this morning. We’ll all miss him terribly. House has been so full of good folks that I won’t cook for a month. This is about the best day ever.”
Mom… Alcatraz
COMMANDMENT #9 ½ : THOU SHALT EAT MORE ICE CREAM. You’ve earned it…….. Tell yourself it’s been a cloudy day and you need some cheering up.
COMMANDMENT 9.75 : THOU SHALT SPOIL THY ONLY BEGOTTEN GRANDCHILDREN. This is your job. It’s your God-given duty. ---Kids wouldn’t play at my house because of my dad. He’d whip you whether you belonged there or not! ….. Now.. he’ll drive any distance, sit through any concert, endure any JHS football score, just to watch a grandson. ---Parents are not supposed to have fun raising kids.. you are! Last Coonridge book…AROUND THE WORLD….Alaska, one of most favorite places. I was talking to our room steward.. both looking at a glacier..I was excited, he was tired. That’s because I was on vacation but he was doing his job. It was just like having grandkids. It’s your job to enjoy the glaciers.
COMMANDMENT # 10 Get a little outrageous in praising God. If you don’t believe in God, then go praise a rock or something, but there’s no better way to get your mind off your own problems than by giving thanks.
----Church lady
---Large S’field church asked me to spy on them.. How do we get youth more involved.. a service that would depress a hyena.
G’pa Orr in Pentecostal Service.
Look upon January and February as a nice break from sunshine, picnics, warm weather, and sunburn. Lighten up! Shake it off! Cause some trouble! And jump out of the pool wearing only your skivvies! And God Bless You!
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