The 3rd house in astrology is associated with writing, conversation, personal thoughts, day-to-day things, siblings and neighbors.
Monday, August 02, 2004A full life
Siona commented on my last post that having a full life is “a wondrous thing” and I agree with her completely. When I was visiting my folks this weekend I kept thinking about how empty their lives are and, with so little time left and relatively good health, it’s sad that they’re not savoring it. They have a million excuses and few interests that don’t rely on other people fitting in perfectly: matching my mother’s need to talk and my father’s entire lack of it. They don’t play golf, walk, garden, play bridge, or do any number of things people in their mid-70’s might enjoy doing with other people. And now with my mother’s Alzheimer’s she’s entirely reliant on my father, who doesn’t want to do anything. So I spend my visits making suggestions: How about a senior center – “all they do is play bingo.” Church? “No one meets anyone at church.” What about so-and-so? “They have other friends” or “They never call us.” For every fat strike I lob at them they have an excuse for not swinging at it.
The problem is they never developed any hobbies or consuming passions so they’re just filling time trying to relieve boredom. I’ve always felt unduly responsible for my parents and incapable of assuaging their unhappiness. And now I can’t fill their lives for them. My only sibling escaped by moving away and then raising his family elsewhere, so my parents see their grandchildren only rarely. They could they have flown out to spend more time with the kids, but that’s not their mindset.
Man, life is so short! While you’re still young, be sure you find things you want to learn and do that will take you a lifetime to pursue. Don’t expect your children to fulfill your life, or any one set of friends, who may move away or pass away. Your job may go away, too. And then what? There’s a book a friend told me about, on retiring without millions of dollars in retirement savings. The book is called Get a Life and the focus is on doing things earlier in your life that will make you happier when you get older when you have all that free time you’re yearning for now. From the back book jacket:
· develop your curiosity
· protect your health
· learn to make new friends of all ages
· stay physically active
· find meaningful interests
· nurture your family relationships
On the other hand, I imagine all you blog readers and writers have plenty of interests and enough desire to keep learning and growing that will take you to your last breath.
