Golden Rule

I used to know everything. REALLY! I did! I could tell you the answer to just about any question you could ask me. I knew more than any of my teachers or professors. I knew more than any of my friends. And my parents? No doubt about it-they were just NOT as enlightened as I was! My Nursery School teacher (before it became Pre-School) reported that I “tended to be a little bossy”. Bossy? Who else but me was capable of telling my little Nursery School classmates where to put their “resting mats” or how to play in the elevated sandbox? Sure! It was okay to put water in the sand. The teacher only got mad because she didn’t think of it first. I knew the rules to EVERY game, just ask me. Oh wait, you didn’t even need to ask, I’d just tell you!

Then things began to change. The world wasn’t as black and white as it had been. The line between right and wrong was sometimes a little wavy. I noticed it years ago when friends  were making up some of the rules. You know the time, someone decides that someone else is all of a sudden “too weird” to talk to. Good friend today, pariah tomorrow! RIGHT thing to do? Then when I was working nights in a nursing home it was my JOB to make sure X number of residents were cared for in X number of minutes. But sometimes someone wanted to talk. What was the RIGHT thing to do? I’d love to say that I always chose the RIGHT thing but of course I can’t.  Yes, I usually would stay a little longer and listen to the little old man’s story about the blizzard back in the ‘40’s but then again there were just as many times I’d snap “Yes George you’ve told me before, I’m late, I’ve got to get going”.

Now I find that the older I get, the less I know! I still know what I want the answers to be but so many other things influence the answers.  I often tease a friend of mine by saying “Sorry, this isn’t covered on page 37 of Life’s Handbook”.  Oh how I wish someone WOULD write that book. Then I’d know why some people die way too soon or why someone with an amazing memory develops Alzheimer’s disease. I could read to find out  how to stop the wars, drug abuse, domestic violence, poverty, and so much more. Imagine looking up the answer to curing cancer! But unfortunately, there is no such book. So I muddle my way through life as best as I can, hoping to do good and not hurt anyone along the way. I guess those teachers DID know something when they taught us the Golden Rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you! Pretty simple but still very profound.

Jane Murakami

Golden Years Planning

(507) 403-3875

Www.goldenyearsinfo.com