I woke up this morning, feeling as tired as I was when I went to bed. The bones really hurt, and the old stamina was just enough to get to the bathroom, and start getting ready for work. As I shaved and showered, I wondered just how much longer will I be able to make it one more day. Will this be the day to finally look in the mirror and say this it it. I am going to retire from my job and then sit back and rest . Or will it be just another day, when I will go through all the motions of my job, and then come home to rest. That question is on my mind each and every day. The answer to that question is right there in front of me as I enter the store. The first thing that I see, is one of my fellow associates and a big smile and hello. All during the day, the sight of one of the other friends and co-workers ,and the smile that they give me, is what helps to keep me going each and every day. The customers coming in to first greet me and then to purchase an item, makes my day complete. The aches and pain that I woke up with, seems to go away a little more each time that I see one of those smiles.

That is what all of us have to look forward to each day as we grow older. No one will take it the same way. There are some that will have the pain of aging and never complain. They will continue to do the same thing each day, and you or I would never know that they hurt. There are those who can not accept the fact that old age brings stiff  bones and weak joints, and so they will complain as long as someone listens. That is human nature, and it will never change. Then there are those who really have not had a sick day in thier life , nor have the aches and pain of  growing older.

It is true that this old man thinks about retiring, and many times he has been very close to picking up the phone to report off for a day or two, but what good would that be to me? It really doesn't matter how much I ache, nor how tired I am, because I was raised by two hard-working parents, who never took time off from thier work and duties. It just is not in my character to just hang it up, because that would be like giving up. I saw my father just barely make it out of bed, and get ready to go and put in a day's work so that all of his family could eat and stay warm. I saw my mother when it looked like she could not take another step and yet she never missed having a warm meal for us.

What good would retirement do for me? I would just sit back and wait for father time to count my days away. Would I take up another hobby in addition to the ones I have now, or would I just sit down and die? The great thing about working is that you have something to look forward to each day and the hours that pass while on your job are ones with purpose. All of us who are at that age in life should take a good long look at what we would do when we retire. Would we keep busy both in our minds and our bodies enough, so that we would look forward to tomorrow? Would we have enough to do, so that when we were through for the day, we can say that this day was not wasted? Each of us are different in what we want for ourselves, so in that , we can only answer for ourself.

What we ,as the older generation has to realize, is that those bones and joints will ache, and sometimes swell, making for a pretty terrible day, but just think about this; When you wake up each morning and you see that beautiful sunrise, and you look out and see those beautiful sights created by The Great Father , how can you feel too bad? The time that we are blessed with to spend here on God's creation, is just a prelude to what lies before us , when we take that journey to the Promise Land. It will be worth all the aches and pain associated with growing older.

I sometimes think that pain will never go away, but then I think back to what a very good friend told me in the middle seventies. He said that if you want to take the pain away, you must first train yourself to place your mind and body elsewhere. What he meant by that, was that if you place your thoughts on something else and you busy your body with some sort of physical motion, the pain will slowly drift away. Your mind controls the pain that way instead of the pain controlling the mind. I have in my time here on earth known several people who used that theory in thier fight with cancer. One was my daughter Patricia, who never gave up in her fight against that terrible sickness. She was always trying to get help for those others who were sick and dying of that illness.  She was always thinking about others when she was so much in pain that most of us could not take.

The mind is a wonderful thing to have and with it, you control the pain. Keeping busy with your body helps to control the pain. We probaly will never know just how much that we can do with God's help. I only know that without him and what he has given me, I probaly would have to hang it up and retire. But as long as I keep him in my heart , I can take the pain and aches of growing old. And as long as I have those friends that make my day each and every day of my life, I will continue to work, and reap the goodness of life as I know it.

One thing that I ask for you to do if you are at that age of retirement, is to think about it with real thought. Are you too old to enjoy working at least a few hours each day? Or are you too ill to enjoy some time with friends? The thing to do if you can, is to still be active in something ,whether it is a new job or just being a volunteer for one of the various organizations here in this great city. Your time here on this great earth can still be a valuable asset to all of us. Just because you have reached those golden years , it is no reason to stop being someone who can still be a part of the economic force. Use all that experience to help us train those who will follow in our footsteps.

I know that it works for me and I don't regret being that valuable part of society called the senior citizen. Try it and see if you still have it. Walk up to that store or business and tell them that you can cut it. As far as me needing anything else to do, I guess that I will one day look back and say that I did ok. As always, catch my writings on my web page at http://www.geocities.com/kokomoman/ and drop me some e-mail at [email protected] . I hope that you will continue to look for my column, and that you let the Kokomo Tribune know that you do.

Ray "Uncle Ray" Day