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Predictability
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Predictability |
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Larry C
since 2001-09-10
Posts 10286United States 
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Predictability By Larry Chadwick What is it that leads us to believe we are entitled to a predictable life? I suppose it is our mother’s fault. From the crib she went out of her way to provide for us in a manner that made us secure. Scheduled bed times, bath times, meals and naps. Even our time with our fathers was typically scheduled with his usual arrival each evening. Seldom were we legitimately stressed because mom was managing everything and everyone that we interacted with. As we grew old enough to engage other children even they were screened for their appropriateness to be our friends. Our church was chosen for us and we even thought they had chosen who our relatives were and we were partially correct. Then when we began school it was at an institution of our parents choosing. Any extracurricular activities were tailored to our personality i.e. which musical instrument we took lessons for, what sports, if any, we participated in and whether or not we were in Boy Scouts or the Brownies. When we reflect on all of the parameters that were established for us it makes adolescent behavior less of a mystery. Perhaps if we demonstrated no resistance at all as teenagers little would have changed. Maybe God programmed us for that interlude as a means of compelling mom to loosen her apron strings. Yet oddly if things didn’t go the way we expected it was her or dad’s fault. Strange when you consider that she wanted everything to go perfectly for us and because we pushed back and she relented it was her fault. No wonder there was a struggle. She couldn’t bear to see us faultering and we had the angst of the challenge. Seldom were either of us content. And yet when we thought we were ready to leave home she didn’t want us to go. It seems no mystery now what that pit in our stomach was as we walked away. It was the pain of severing the apron strings. That night we faced a future completely unknown with expectations of no restrictions, no need and no schedule. And the security that was provided to us for all those years was under a different roof with a new spare room. We left home with all the answers not even acknowledging that mom wouldn’t be there to pose the questions. Somehow we had managed to take everything for granted. Since life had been delivered to us in a predictable package we falsely assumed that wouldn't change. There is little, besides our parents, that educates us better than reality. And when it comes in large repetitive doses it tends to shorten the learning curve. How can there not be a diploma for that kind of education? Yet strangely as we begin to master life as an adult we slip easily into that pattern of expectations. You know the predictability of life. For some it lasts longer than others. It may be a divorce, a job termination, a failure or a death. And until then we thought we had learned a lot. But this is a graduate course and by now you don’t care about diplomas. This is that phase of life where we gain wisdom. It is the formal training that prepares us for old age. You know, that time when you chose to be unemployed but you are still of great value to your extended family. And the outcome is totally predictable. September 23, 2007 If tears could build a stairway and memories a lane, I'd walk right up to heaven and bring you home again. [This message has been edited by Larry C (09-24-2007 02:32 AM).] |
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| © Copyright 2007 Larry Chadwick - All Rights Reserved | |||
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nakdthoughts Member Laureate
since 2000-10-29
Posts 19200Between the Lines |
hmmm...you mean you can choose to be unemployed....and still be able to have a life??  M |
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Larry C
since 2001-09-10
Posts 10286United States |
M, LOL Well most people call it retirement. But the way it's going for me it will be unemployed!  If tears could build a stairway and memories a lane, |
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Poet deVine
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-26
Posts 22612Hurricane Alley |
I think young people find life predictable because the creative gene is weeded out of them. They are told not to lie (tell stories)..not to 'see things' (imagination) and to act like an adult (where's the silly string?). Sigh. Only in our 'twilight years' can we get back that unpredictablity that we had as kids.. Good write - very thought provoking! (I am not going to retire, my last job will be in a funeral parlor so all I have to do at the end of my time is go pick a box and lay down!)  |
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Larry C
since 2001-09-10
Posts 10286United States |
Sharon, You crack me up! Adds new meaning to sleeping on the job. And thanks for the kind reply too.If tears could build a stairway and memories a lane, |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
I recently heard [and the irony prevails] that children/kids today have "nothing to look forward to" because their parents [or at least, a good majority of them] have succeeded in giving their children most everything they have had a whim for. Isn't that sad? Reality will bite in a lot of their worlds to come, when they learn that only by going into deep debt, will they be able to surprise themselves with some new toy. And I have to agree with Sharon as well; it is a terrible thing to see a child with no imagination. Here's to the parents that find ways to allow their children to play.  to you my friend, for all that you find to say, then share. |
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Larry C
since 2001-09-10
Posts 10286United States |
Karilea, Well at least no one can take away the good old days. For sure I don't envy the children of today nor was I being critical of mothers. We have much to be thankdful for as, I'm sure, the kids of today do too. Thank you kind lady, always, for your thoughtful replies. If tears could build a stairway and memories a lane, |
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