women of a certain age are like sunflowers; they know how to turn their faces to the sun.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Simplicity

"Out of intense complexities intense simplicities emerge."

- Winston Churchill

"[Baseball] is a simple game. You throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the ball. You got it?"

- Kevin Costner as Crash Davis in the movie Bull Durham

I like to keep things simple; that way I don't forget things.

When my boys were little, I was so stressed out. I would fall into bed at the end of the day and feel like I was still running around like a mother with her head cut off.

It wasn't the amount of what I had to do; it was the number of different things I had to keep track of.

Eldest son loves to play video games. He slays the zombies, rescues the mayor, toggles back and forth between powers and the close up screen and the overall map, picking up extra lives and treasure as he goes. He gains a great deal of enjoyment out of this. All while the clock is ticking down...

I, on the other hand, dislike doing anything with a deadline. I agree with Curly from the movie City Slickers. I find my "one thing" and I am happy.

So, when all of a sudden, I had to worry about carb counting and blood glucose levels and meter reading, and regular mealtimes, I freaked.

I felt like that guy on the Ed Sullivan show. You know the one. He scurried from place to place, all over the stage, keeping all the plates spinning at the same time.

It all seemed so intensely complex.

This morning I had an epiphany. I was standing at the counter fixing my morning toast, and I thought, "This is not my life, only part of it. I'm good. I don't have to let it get me down."

My BG numbers are great. My diet modifications are beginning to make sense, and I am getting used to a new routine. My energy level is way up.

And I find myself viewing food as a tool rather than a life long temptation.

Out of intense complexity, intense simplicity emerges. And just that easily, things settle into their proper place.

It is not unlike the feeling I got when I began to see into the lace patterns I was knitting. I wasn't just following directions anymore. I understood why it works the way it does and what makes it look the way it does. I could see the problems and find the solutions.

Just like lace, we can make better sense of life if we stop trying to do it all at once, breaking it down instead into a logical progression of steps.

Life is a simple game. We throw the ball, we hit the ball, we catch the ball. I get it.

STASH SALE TOMORROW
BE THERE OR BE SQUARE...

3 comments:

Donna Lee said...

City Slickers is one of my all time favorites and the "one thing" is my favorite part (except for the part where Billy Crystal gets off the train with a calf). One thing at a time and you can conquer the world.

Denise said...

I'm very behind with blogs, so have come late to the news of your diabetes diagnosis. I'm so sorry - it's a whole shift in thinking and doing for pretty much everything in your life. I'm more au fait with Type 1 (I'm presuming you have Type 2?), but from seeing how Dotter has adapted over the past few years, it will gradually become more routine, and less frightening.

Don't despair. You'll get calluses on your fingers, and you'll get used to low GI foods, and carb counting before too long.

Sending you hugs from afar ...

La Cabeza Grande said...

As usual, you've shared a lesson for all of us who feel overwhelmed with the spinning plates. Peace.