Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Life’s Distracting Choices

I'm sure you've heard this before, "Life is about choices".  That is a broad statement.  Too broad, really.  I find that I am in constant "yes" or "no" conversations with myself.
Take, for instance, this morning.  I woke up at 5:45.  Once I became fully awake, I was faced with a decision.  I'll call it the "first choice" of the day.
Should I stay in bed or get up?  
It's still dark out.  But, I can get an early start on...uh oh more choices.  
Let's see, I can try to fix the mistake I made on the scarf that I am currently knitting.  Which, by the way, I finally chose to put down in frustration last night.
I decide no to the knitting.  My eyes are still too tired from working on it for  hours last night.
I could just make my tea.  Making "my tea" doesn't require much thought because I make my tea every morning.  It's not "usually" or "perhaps", it's always, the second thing I do when I get up.
So, I could get up, make my tea, then just sit and listen to the stillness before the dog notices that I am not in bed and starts to bark... because?  Oh yeah, he's a dog.  It's what he does.  
Hmm, that will affect my decision.  If I wake the dog up, he will want to go out.  Like I mentioned, it's still dark and icy cold.  But, I don't walk the dog, Ross does.  And Ross is still sound asleep.
So if I get up, make my tea, and the dog starts barking, Ross will wake up.  I'm sure it isn't a choice Ross would make.  He wouldn't want to get up at 5:45 and walk Rico in the dark coldness.
Okay, I could get up,  make my tea, then when Rico starts to bark, I could let him out in the back for a quick pee and Ross could stay sleeping.
By now, the day is starting to lighten.  As I lie in bed, I imagine the sky is now starting to change from black to gray with hints of salmon pink on the horizon.
It would make a great photo.
I could get up, make my tea, let Rico out the back to pee. Then while my tea is brewing, perhaps I could capture a sunrise.
So many choices.  Oh, they may sound mundane and small.  And they are, really.
But this morning they were mere but necessary distractions.
For, this morning, before I was fully awake, still hazy from a restless night and with a nagging lingering headache, I fuzzily recalled that Ross was going to the movies today with his friend Sal.  Star Wars in 3D.
I wondered if Joe has seen it yet.
And then I remembered.
Should I stay in bed or get up?


4 comments:

  1. I think others have the same thoughts when they first wake up and then they remember the reality of what their lives are now. I admire you for getting up, no matter how hard the day might be ahead; I knew of someone that after their child passed they chose to spend the majority of their days in bed for many a year.

    betty

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    1. Thank you. Every once in a while I do take a day in bed. Not very often, but it's a re-charge for me.

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  2. There is another option. For example, yesterday I checked my email on my phone, played a little Candy Crush, and then I went back to sleep. Mundane choices, but choices all the same.

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    1. Oh yes, I do that too. Check my phone, check facebook etc.

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