Dear Reader, I think you’ll grant that generalities often border on platitude. Yet I dare say that the fortuity of one’s day is largely unpredictable. This is particularly so when estimating one’s personal well-being as opposed to assessment of global patterns. My day today, for example, began uneventfully, one might reasonably say disappointingly. The diminished strength of Tylenol Regular – as opposed to Tylenol Arthritis to which I formerly subscribed – was causing me ineludible annoyance. The drug wasn’t moderating the lingering pain in my abdomen (wherein reside my broken ribs).

Pain – so I am reminded with disturbing regularity – blurs everything. Pain is a remorseless and independent affliction, not easily accommodated or dissuaded. Notwithstanding the impediment, pain can be compromised. Being seated in the car exhausted the strained manipulation of my spine (which illustratively I had endured earlier when hobbling about to initiate my morning tricycle penance). Once restored to the tranquil leather seat of my EV, with the windows open, I was happily sailing along the county highways.

Indeed I am moved to a more poetic and inspiring account of today’s venture.  It was a brilliant day! The sky was the masterful rendition of an artist’s canvass. The reduced Sunday traffic no doubt contributed to the deliverance. All characteristics of the drive were cooperating. I was neither tempted nor required to search for obstruction. Instead the facility of the vehicle and the desirability of the journey on this glorious springtime day spoke to me without evasion or equivocation. I confess that automotive perfection is at times shadowed by over-indulgence. But today I was alive to its ingredients. The burgeoning countryside was the ideal backdrop.

I attribute some – though not all – of today’s serenity to a good sleep last night and to a good breakfast this morning. Perhaps the half-hour spent snoozing on the balcony in the marvellous sunshine helped as well. These elemental stimuli cannot be understated or ignored.

But the undeniable replenishment I experienced today was a product of my on-going analysis. I believe I have reached a turning point.  And I don’t hesitate to admit how justifiably smug I am!

In spite of all that is written concerning aging, I have yet to read anything which isn’t either obvious or useless. The talk should not be only about where in the world to travel; it should include the remedial confinement to home. The blunt reality of that conversation is that, after a certain age (and each of us feels that certainty), removing oneself from the immediacy of one’s territory is work. Work, like pain, survives independently; and, in the process it contaminates the whole.

Sometimes for reasons impossible to delineate, the imposing perception is that travel suffers the debate, “Is that all there is?”  Similarly it must be admitted that, after an age, limitation is the key. Learning to live happily within those restrictions is the answer. But it requires thought.

Inevitably the success of the conclusion depends upon the accuracy of the premises upon which it is based. In some respects, thinking about travel for example, the Major Premise upon which the argument is based is coloured characteristically by a favourable summary. By contrast, the opposing argument for domesticity is frequently no more than, “Home Sweet Home” or similar trite apothegm. What makes a decision perhaps yet more obscure is the acknowledgment that, in these circumstances, we are most often responding not to logic but to emotion. My view of this suggested peril is by contrast that it is a conclusion to be trusted; that is, trust your gut!

The “gut reaction” may only sustain an argument for a limited period of time; but it will in any event judiciously prolong the final decision and hopefully insulate it from error. There are naturally a myriad of propositions arising from one’s so-called visceral response.  It is seldom a singular feature. While there is clearly advantage to consideration of alternatives, one must keep in mind the weight of what may appear to be no more than instinctive behaviour. Very often it is those base indicia which intuit the truly important points. In any event, it is plain good manners to do so, whether for oneself or for any other who may be similarly affected.

It is inadequate of me to attempt to itemize the reasons for the positive gusto today. As is usually said in these instances, everything just clicked. And agreeably it continues to do so. Nor is this a small compliment.  Today’s epiphany is by no means of insignificance. Though I am tempted to fathom the poignant reasons for saying so, it will be easier for me simply to admit that today was already 9/10 when it began. By this trifling comment I wish to emphasize that I am already surrounded by opportunity; and, much of that inspiration is that which is before my eyes and readily available. Accordingly the conclusion isn’t purely emotional or instinctive; but neither is it strictly logical. I can only hope that the choices we make going forward are as reliable as those we’ve made in the past.