It struck me as fumy, that when you are young, you want to stay up all night, get by on practically no sleep night after night, and still have the energy to get through a day. When you get older, you just want to sleep all night, but often cannot! And still don’t have the energy to get through a whole day.
Do we really change all that much as we grow older? Inside we feel just the same as we always have, the same thoughts, ambitions, hopes and dreams. On the inside we still feel as we did when we were teenagers, but on the outside, our bodies no longer keep up with our minds.
I might think I can work a full day, keep up with a room full of babies and toddlers, give them all the love and attention they need, deal with bumped heads, skinned knees and assorted other toddler injuries, manage the paperwork involved, deal with the parents, deal with other staff, clean, wash, sterlise, scrub and co-ordinate so that at the end of the day 8 babies go home to their parents, fed, changed, nurtured and cared for, properly documented and their bags properly filled with the sterilized bottles, dummies and other equipment they arrived with in the morning. But as I get older, I start to realise that what I did easily a few years ago, I now find much more tiring and taxing.
I might think I can do all manner of things that I did a few years ago, but suddenly my body is not of the same opinion!
I remember a dear sweet lady, who was at the time of our conversation, about 85 I believe. She said “Your mind tells you that you can still skip rope, your body knows you cannot” Those words of wisdom being uttered, she proceeded to jump rope with her great grandchildren! Perhaps it is a matter of perception, rather than fact. How I hope when I am that age, I can jump rope with my great grandchildren!
I suppose we have a choice when it comes to aging. We can grow old gracefully, with dignity, charm and good humor, or we can grow old with resentment, anger and bad humor! But whichever way we choose, it is inevitable that we WILL grow older!
I have recently had the great privilege of being part of a group of women. We are of around the same age, but we come from very different backgrounds and life experiences. What has struck me, as I have sat and listened to the conversations around the coffee table, is how alike we are and yet how very dissimilar we are! I find it both challenging and uplifting to belong to a group of wonderful, caring, fascinating women, from whom I can learn and with whom I can share, in ways I have not experienced before. I truly believe that the best society, is a society that respects and nurtures the women who run their homes and families, whose love, support, advice and hard work are the backbone of everything that is good about our society. I don’t want to get into the violence against women debate, because it is a story that has two sides, one of which is not being publicized as much as the other. There are many forms of domestic ” abuse” and it’s not always perpetrated by the male of the family!
It is not a popular belief these days, but I am still an advocate of women staying home, keeping house and bringing up the children, supporting their husband as he works to provide for his family. This is the model that has always worked, over many centuries, I see no reason to change it. This does not mean that women are ” second best” or somehow ” less” than anyone else, it means a woman who stays at home, keeps her home, cooking, cleaning and taking care of the children, is fulfilling the greatest role any person can be called upon to do. It requires more sacrifice, more dedication, more intuition, more talent and more selfless hours of hard work, than any job imaginable! I have total respect and regard or ANY woman who dedicates her life to her home and family. It is the hardest job in the world, and it is the most rewarding job in the world and it is a job only women can do. What higher calling could a woman aspire to, than to care for her husband and children?
I am not saying it’s bad for a woman to enter the workforce, sometimes it is all that can be done to keep a family together, and certainly is another calling for a wife and mother, to support and assist her husband, by adding to the family income. I see no reason to criticize if this becomes necessary. This is a decision that is made between couples, and I see no problem with it, provided they are in agreement. Sometimes there are no choices in this matter.
What I am saying is, if a woman is in a position to stay at home, keep house and bring up her children, supporting her husband, then it is the highest calling of any! Great men may do great things in the world, but ordinary women achieve so much more, because they produce and nurture the future! Our children are our future, a happy, stable, well disciplined upbringing, produces happy, stable, well disciplined adults, who go out into the world as strong, moral citizens, bringing strong moral and ethical values to society.
A society who looses direction, looses moral and ethical values, is lost. History is proof enough of that. Women have the highest calling, the highest responsibilities, to bring children into this world, to nurture and teach them, to show by example what it means to live a productive, moral, truthful life, and to respect their husbands. Respect is a two way street. A woman should respect her husband and a man should respect his wife. You are a partnership – equal in many ways – but there can only be one leader!
That sounds very ” Victorian” I know, but it’s a tried and tested model that has stood our society in good moral steed for many years. It is, unfortunately, one of the many pillars of our current society I see being eroded, and it will be to our detriment. Without the foundations of home and family, a society becomes baseless. While ” anything goes” may sound enticing, it is most certainly the road to destruction and to a lawless, violent society, and it is one that I see becoming more and more prevalent.
Drug and alcohol abuse, moral decline, violence and criminal activity are the signs of a sick and declining society, things won’t get better, they will get a whole lot worse, unless we can reverse the trend by returning to our roots, to the things that made our society great.
Morality, based as it always has been on our Judeo/Christian roots, the sense of “right and wrong” that were taught as part of our schooling years ago, the roles of men and women, the man to provide for his family, the woman to keep house and rear the children, the mutual respect for each other, as couples and as human beings, the value of life, the value of ” doing the right thing” dictated by our conscience and our moral values. These are the things that make a society great, keep it moving forward and growing in prosperity.
Corrupt Governments, self serving and lacking moral values, contribute to the downfall of any society. We need morally strong men to stand up and take leadership, not to benefit themselves, but for the good of us all. We need strong men who will stand up for the weak, the ill, the frail, the aged, not because they can gain something for themselves, but because it is the right thing to do! Every society should care for those less able to care for themselves, it should be instinct, it should be without question, that those weaker among us, would be taken care of, especially the aged and aging.
We need to value the contribution of the aged, their wisdom and accumulated knowledge. Although they are aged, they still have much to teach us, much to share, much to contribute. Societies who value and respect their elders, have prospered and grown. A society that casts aside those who can no longer work, a Government who fails to provide for those who have contributed to society their whole lives, in service as well as monetarily, is short sighted and self destructive. Perhaps Western societies could learn something from Japanese society, which teaches great respect for elders, where no expense is spared to care for and nurture an aging relative, and every comfort is provided, often at the expense of family members, so that the aging parent or relative, lives their remaining days in comfort, surrounded by love and respect. A society who cares for it’s weakest members, is the strongest.
Current Western Governments seem only interested in themselves, what they can get and gain, and do not appear to look beyond their term of office, introducing harsh bills and rules that will affect many, many people for many years to come, without thought of the lives they are ruining, or the many they are condemning to live in poverty or very close to it, in the declining years of their lives.
It certainly seems, at least to me, that certain people have got themselves into high places in Government, made changes to rules without really understanding what they were doing, affecting many people’s quality of life, forever, and they walk away smiling and content, as though they have done a good job. THEIR lives are not affected, because they are assured of a pension and benefits for the rest of their lives, not means tested like the rest of us. They are not subject to the same assessments and re-assessments that the rest of us must live with. Their assets are not looked at and assessed, like the rest of us. We may have served our country, we may have contributed to our society in many ways, yet we are subject to harsh rules and our benefits as we age, are likely to be removed, lessened or taken away completely, without warning and without explanation.
Who has contributed more to society? The Soldier who served overseas? The Soldier who served in a war and was injured, with a permanent disability which means he can no longer work and support his family? The Policeman who was shot while doing his duty? The Paramedic assaulted and permanently injured when he tried to help a patient? The Nurse who was stabbed in the ER as she tried to help a drug affected youth? The Firefighter who was injured saving someone in a housefire? The Doctor who served in war torn areas, saving lives? Or the Politician who sat in his office and changed the laws as to who could claim benefits for any of these situations. Really? Can we say our society is just, upright and moral?
We get to pay them (politicians) , for the rest of their lives, EVEN IF THEY DIDN’T DO A GOOD JOB in whatever role they played in Government. A FAILED Prime Minister gets the same lifetime benefits as one who did a wonderful job! A FAILED member of the Government, gets his pension and benefits, the same as a long serving, successful member!
In short, WE get to pay for THEM for the rest of their lives, whether they served well or not!
What other job in the entire world gives you such amazing benefits? What other job in the entire world continues to pay you and give you benefits after you stop doing the job? What other job in the entire world continues to pay you and give you benefits, when you are voted out of the job because you were incompetent and corrupt?
Even politicians who were CLEARLY corrupt while in office, STILL GET THEIR PENSION AND BENEFITS!
Does this sound like a moral, ethically run establishment? How many scandals have we seen involving misuse and abuse of Government position and authority? Too many! Do these seem like strong, moral, ethical and upstanding members of society? Are they people we can respect and look up to, to lead us and make decisions for us? Where are the morally strong, the ethical, upstanding and trustworthy men we need to Govern and lead?
If you are a Christian, and believe the Bible, you already know where it will all end.
Please feel free to leave a comment!
The Wendy Diaries 