As I mentioned yesterday, I went to a half day retreat on Saturday at my Church, which as part of the Men's Ministry, I helped set up for. Before even getting there, I had to get my sheetrock/taper set up on a job at 8:30 in the morning. I got to the Church about 9:15ish, and as is usually the case, I was the first one there to start setting up. Having no materials with me and no idea what the plan of action was, I went and sat in the little chapel to relax, settle myself down, and sort of get my mind in tune for the day. When I walked into the chapel, there was an elder gentleman there tinkering with an extension cord for a light. This man has been around St. James as long as I can remember. In fact, he was probably going to St. James before I was even born. As such, I should know his name, but for whatever reason, I don't. Every time I have ever seen him, he has always been working on either fixing something around the Church or making little improvements here and there. The only reason he continues to do all this work I feel is because he wants it done to his specifications and wants it done immediately. As it goes with any Church, sometimes the little repairs take a while to get done and I guess in his mind, a while is too long. In any case, when I entered the chapel, he had all his tools spread out on the floor, totally involved in his project. I asked if he needed any help as he was lying down tinkering with the extension cord to which he politely replied, "No thank you" in his heavy Spanish accent, and continued working. Not wanting to push a man probably in his 70's to let me help, I sat down and watched him work. The project he was working on was attaching an extension cord to the underside of a small step so that no one could see it and more importantly no one could trip over it. He was dressed nicely in corduroy pants, a button down shirt with a sweater, and nice dress shoes. This is how I found him lying on the floor working. When I sat down to watch him, he was clipping the excess off of zip ties that he was using to hold the extension cord in place. His actions were methodical and over the whole time I was watching him, his hands didn't shake once.
A handyman, a tinkerer, a worker for life if you will. He worked with a purpose, not harder than a younger person, but with more determination to make his little project look good and last. When I entered the chapel, he was pretty close to finishing his project. Once he was all finished up, he shuffled along the floor on his knees gathering his tools together and systematically putting them into his tool case in the proper order. Every tool had its place, every scrap was picked up and thrown out, and by the end, everything looked the way it did when he entered. Once his tools were put away, he knelt down in one of the pews and prayed. You could visibly see his faith beaming forth, simple, yet vibrant. I don't know what it was about this man that I was drawn to, but I couldn't stop watching him the whole time I was in the chapel with him. Maybe it was the fact that at his age, he didn't hesitate getting involved in a project himself without asking for help. Or perhaps it was the fact that there was such determination in his face when he was working that it almost begged someone to watch him. There is a lesson to be learned from him and anyone else who wants to live along life; never stop working. I know that there are those who look forward to retirement and relaxing for the rest of their life, but the people that I know who are in the best shape in their later years are those who have never stopped working. I am not talking about working behind a desk or anything like that, I am talking about some sort of physical labor, however easy it may be. It seems that one of the keys to remaining active even in the later years in life is to keep your mind and body active and busy. People will say that we all need time to relax. I will not go against that as I totally agree that people need to relax, but to spend all of retirement relaxing is asking to be placed on a gurney in a nursing home with a tube sticking out of your mouth. Granted, that may happen to some people regardless, but I firmly believe that physical activity and work, small projects or large, are one of the keys to a long and healthy life.
If you think about it, someone who is physically active, even involved in small projects like attaching an extension cord to the underside of a step, is using more than just the muscles in their body, they are also using their brain to solve problems and execute them accordingly. More than one time I saw the elder man run into difficulties in cutting the excess off of the zip ties. He never got flustered or aggravated, he simply assessed the situation, figured out what he was doing wrong, and adjusted his actions accordingly. If that's not using your brain and muscles, I don't know what is. If you look at anyone who has lived a long life, I guarantee that they have remained active throughout most of their life. It just goes hand in hand. I guess another part of why I couldn't help watching this elder man work was due to my admiration at his work ethic and his flat out refusal for help. He could have taken the easy road, accepted my offer for help, and sat in the chair and watched me work instead. But he wanted it done his way and he knew that he was perfectly capable of doing the work. I don't blame him. If I was his age and involved in such a project, I would probably refuse help as well. So maybe we should all consider remaining active throughout our lives. Lets not take the easy route and relax for half our life letting our bodies deteriorate as we sit idly through our golden years. Lets instead make an effort to continue working with our hands and bodies, however small the work may be, and keep our minds and bodies in shape. Even if its not perfect shape, it doesn't matter. Whatever induces extra blood flow to our muscles and brain will inevitably extend our life. Part of me sees myself as that older man in 40-50 years, still tinkering away, fixing things, remaining active. I know that I will probably never settle down and stop working, its just not in me. If I enjoy working with my hands and know that it will keep my body and mind in shape, then why stop? I won't. At least that is what I am saying right now. Hopefully I still have the same mentality in 40 years when I am 70. For now, I am off to work again with my hands and mind, tinkering way at work, getting things done, and staying in shape.
A handyman, a tinkerer, a worker for life if you will. He worked with a purpose, not harder than a younger person, but with more determination to make his little project look good and last. When I entered the chapel, he was pretty close to finishing his project. Once he was all finished up, he shuffled along the floor on his knees gathering his tools together and systematically putting them into his tool case in the proper order. Every tool had its place, every scrap was picked up and thrown out, and by the end, everything looked the way it did when he entered. Once his tools were put away, he knelt down in one of the pews and prayed. You could visibly see his faith beaming forth, simple, yet vibrant. I don't know what it was about this man that I was drawn to, but I couldn't stop watching him the whole time I was in the chapel with him. Maybe it was the fact that at his age, he didn't hesitate getting involved in a project himself without asking for help. Or perhaps it was the fact that there was such determination in his face when he was working that it almost begged someone to watch him. There is a lesson to be learned from him and anyone else who wants to live along life; never stop working. I know that there are those who look forward to retirement and relaxing for the rest of their life, but the people that I know who are in the best shape in their later years are those who have never stopped working. I am not talking about working behind a desk or anything like that, I am talking about some sort of physical labor, however easy it may be. It seems that one of the keys to remaining active even in the later years in life is to keep your mind and body active and busy. People will say that we all need time to relax. I will not go against that as I totally agree that people need to relax, but to spend all of retirement relaxing is asking to be placed on a gurney in a nursing home with a tube sticking out of your mouth. Granted, that may happen to some people regardless, but I firmly believe that physical activity and work, small projects or large, are one of the keys to a long and healthy life.
If you think about it, someone who is physically active, even involved in small projects like attaching an extension cord to the underside of a step, is using more than just the muscles in their body, they are also using their brain to solve problems and execute them accordingly. More than one time I saw the elder man run into difficulties in cutting the excess off of the zip ties. He never got flustered or aggravated, he simply assessed the situation, figured out what he was doing wrong, and adjusted his actions accordingly. If that's not using your brain and muscles, I don't know what is. If you look at anyone who has lived a long life, I guarantee that they have remained active throughout most of their life. It just goes hand in hand. I guess another part of why I couldn't help watching this elder man work was due to my admiration at his work ethic and his flat out refusal for help. He could have taken the easy road, accepted my offer for help, and sat in the chair and watched me work instead. But he wanted it done his way and he knew that he was perfectly capable of doing the work. I don't blame him. If I was his age and involved in such a project, I would probably refuse help as well. So maybe we should all consider remaining active throughout our lives. Lets not take the easy route and relax for half our life letting our bodies deteriorate as we sit idly through our golden years. Lets instead make an effort to continue working with our hands and bodies, however small the work may be, and keep our minds and bodies in shape. Even if its not perfect shape, it doesn't matter. Whatever induces extra blood flow to our muscles and brain will inevitably extend our life. Part of me sees myself as that older man in 40-50 years, still tinkering away, fixing things, remaining active. I know that I will probably never settle down and stop working, its just not in me. If I enjoy working with my hands and know that it will keep my body and mind in shape, then why stop? I won't. At least that is what I am saying right now. Hopefully I still have the same mentality in 40 years when I am 70. For now, I am off to work again with my hands and mind, tinkering way at work, getting things done, and staying in shape.
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