This is the Last Time I’m Going to Say This

This is the last time I’m going to use this column to point out to seniors that common sense is the most valuable asset we have. Good judgment is a part of common sense.  Careful grooming of wisdom and application of things is right up there.  But common sense surely ranks high.  Logic is often seen as an ideological bent, while common sense applies to the day to day decisions and choices we are prone to make.

Having lived long enough to know that making decisions is an exercise in calling up all the wisdom of our accumulated lives, it just is logical that coming to decision making with all the tools that experience allows is the best position to take.

Here we are at that stage in life when various interruptions and interferences are inevitable. No matter how shrewd we are or think we are, life enjoys introducing surprises and curve balls.  We may think we have structured our life so that it can run on all cylinders, be kept fit for performance, be ready for anything that comes at us when all of sudden a surprise emerges on the horizon.  We may have thought we had that covered.   We may have felt that most of the sudden altercations that might occur were all accounted for.  Yet, out of nowhere, comes something that scuttles our great life plan.  Everything was going smoothly enough, when yesiree, right there it is.

Expect the Unexpected

All of our well laid plans are met with all kinds of variations that had not been anticipated.  Life has no permanence.   Someone gets sick, dies, moves away, is suddenly no longer a part of the picture and you thought everything was fairly well nailed down.

Common sense says be ready.  Common sense says be on the alert.   Common sense demands that we recognize we aren’t always in charge.  Common sense encourages us to use our noggins.  It isn’t the end of the world when we are met with the unexpected. There are several possibilities yet that can happen.  Adjusting to the prospect of radical change in our lives is one of the things we may not like, but being prepared for and dealing with it is nonetheless necessary.