13 Goals that an Elder/Elderly Goth should follow~~~

Darklings,




I’ve discovered something while I was on my vacation, first, and it is so obvious----I missed my little 4 legged darling, Belladonna intensely, so much so that I was calling her babysitter every other day, which fortunately her babysitter didn’t mind, but I fully intend to take her with me as much as possible from now on.



Secondly, while going through some things and also being on vacation I re-discovered things that I had jotted down many years ago, goals that one should achieve, things that were told/taught to me by my family, some of which I’ve mentioned before but I think bears repeating.



We must conserve our resources, our parents, grand-parents and great-grand-parents knew this, but it is something that we forgot in the vast consumerism of 1970’s to now in the 21st century.



We must remember to:

USE IT UP

FIX IT UP

FIND ANOTHER WAY OF USING IT

MAKE DO

SAVE UP FOR IT

OR DO WITHOUT



What the youngsters or Baby Bats, now call re-cycling and re-purposing, the Elders knew long, long before.



And these things that I re-discovered---fortunately I’ve managed to achieve most of it, but even for myself, an Elder/Elderly Goth, one should never stop learning.



I’ve also looked into the shelf and freezer life of products as well for my pantry and I’ve discovered it is so important to date things, that way you can be sure to use it in time and rotate out without waste, a large indelible ink marker is very handy for that.



But Something else I’ve discovered and have updated and augmented.



These are:



Goals that an Elder/Elderly Goth should achieved

And what younger Goths or Baby Bats should aspire to….



1. Know Yourself, to truly know yourself you must be prepared to change your opinions as you learn and grow older.  For if you are not willing to know yourself, to be willing to learn and with learning change, then instead you will stagnate and never achieve anything.



2. Know your Job and Skills, learn from the masters who have done this before, sometimes the old skills are the best. Remember Scotty from Star Trek who said "The more they over think the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain.” And remember what he also told a young La Forge who said "The tank can't handle that much pressure."

"Where'd you get that idea?"

"It's in the impulse specifications."

"Regulation 42/15: 'Pressure Variances in IRC Tank Storage'?"

"Right."

"Oh, that. Forget it. I WROTE it”



3. Learn and Grow, never be afraid to expand your abilities by continuously learning, that way life never grows dull or stale and it makes things interesting.



4. Apply knowledge with Wisdom, never ever think you know everything or have all the answers because YOU DON’T, be willing to admit that there are times when you could be wrong.



5. Achieve Balance, remember there are always two sides to every question, argument, situation and truth



6. Keep your Words in Good Order, it is always easy to use profane and foul language it is much harder to say things carefully without increasing the tension.



7. Keep you Thoughts in Good Order, it is always easy to jump to conclusions or to judge and condemn without looking carefully at the situation, remember the Indian prayer “Great Spirit, Grant That I May Not Criticize My Neighbor Until I Have Walked A Mile In His Moccasins"



8. Celebrate Life, in Life there is Death, in Death there is Life, it should always be a celebration, if you hear the tiniest squeak of a Hummingbird, see the flutter of a Butterfly, the inquisitiveness of a squirrels, the playful happiness of a dog, the relaxed attitude of a cat, the gracefulness of a fish, the soaring loftiness of a sparrow, then celebrate it, even if its just in your heart.



9. Attune with the Cycles of the Earth, we forget that to every Season there is a time for it, to ignore it is to throw your body and senses out of time and out of tune with the music of the spheres, celebrate everything and attune with it, from New Years to Valentine’s Day to Easter, to Mother’s and Father’s Day, Memorial Day to 4th of July, to Fall, to Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas, celebrate it, to ignore it is to bankrupt your soul and your self.



10. Breathe and Eat Correctly, slow down, simplify your life, enjoy the air that is out there, enjoy the sun, the moon, the stars, the day and the night, the rain, the wind, you do not need 100 pairs of shoes, nor all those apps on your Iphone or Ipad, sometimes it is good to disconnect from everything and just slow down, BREATHE and live life, to eating correctly we make the mistake of gobbling our food, we don’t savor it, we eat too many big Macs but forget the delightful crunch of a fresh apple, eating should be slowed down and enjoyed, from the taste to the smell, to the texture and flavor.





11. Exercise the Body, too long we sit at a computer ‘surfing the internet’ and denying the joys of the outdoors, even at night; we watch sports on T.V. but do not enjoy the physical interaction with friends and/or family, even if it’s a slow walk in the neighborhood you’ll get to meet people, discover little hidden treasures of shops and places, and missing the beauty of life around us.



12.Meditate, this is where you learn to listen to the stillness within, to bring the energies of the body into harmony to close your eyes and quiet the “monkey chatter” in the brain and in doing so achieve a blissful serenity that most people seek through drugs or over activity but really it is the stillness that brings it to you.



13.Honor the Higher Spiritual Power, yes there is something profound that is greater than ourselves, whatever your religious beliefs are, take time to say thank you to this Higher Power, if it was through the intervention by a parent, friend, co-worker, acquaintance or just someone in customer service who assists you to their best of their ability say “Thank You”, by doing that you honor them and you Honor the Higher Spiritual Power.



Some times it might be best to go on a Spiritual Retreat at an abbey or monastery to get yourself to learn to Slow Down and discover yourself and the simple joys of life, to go against the stream of “go, go, go!” and instead say “Why?”



Sometimes it can be the pleasure of doing childlike things, of blowing bubbles, of cutting snowflakes out of paper, of dancing with your dog, or gathering sea shells,   for to quote Captain Kirk "The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play." And we should all learn to play.



Later Darklings.