Fine Print Dr. Juan Harrison

When I was young and cocky I could juggle three things at a time in my brain and get er dun.  These days taint so.  Like all of you I’ve had to learn to laugh at myself for my dumbness at times, made worse if the wife was looking on.  This retraining my brain to focus on one thing and follow it through is tough for me.  If my wife is conducting her school and pulls me off a task to do something for her, you can just about forget my original objective getting accomplished.

I don’t like this.  I don’t like being a simpleton.  I can still do basic things like making the bed, washing a few clothes, checking the dryer, checking the sink for any dishes.  I just don’t like that feeling that I’m losing control. We may think we’re in control but most of us have learned that our bodies rebel and show us who’s really in control.  A little humility can go a long way. 

As Scrooge sang in one of his movies after becoming a nicer person, “I like life, life likes me.”  In the absence of any permanent pain, life can be purty good.  If you can still smell it and taste it, count yourself blessed.  If you can see it from a distance, so much the better.  Kids, babies, grands and great-grand babies make life worth living.  It’s easy to get down on ourselves when we remember our Homecoming Queen and football hero days.  I don’t remember a lot about sitting on the end of the bench.  If they called my name, we were either far ahead or really far behind.

What I love is now. Yeah, I get aggravated with my old legs that can fail me, eyes that can’t see like they did, or ears that make me frequently aggravate Mama with, “What’d you say?”  Bathroom issues can be a hassle, but I survived prostate cancer recently. I’m just glad to be a survivor after seeing some people’s battles at Texas Oncology.

I think all these changes in our bodily functions are good for two reasons.  One, it could be a whole lot worse.  God has let me spend my last fifty years in a decent house with a loving faithful woman and kids and grands who have made me proud.  Two, I think all these physical woes we’re beginning to experience are simply reminders that we’ve got a second home waiting on us with no taxes and insurance due and there ain’t no termites.  There will be no depression, sadness, tears, heartache, heart break, unfaithful family and friends, nothing but goodness and light.  Whatever we’ve suffered in this life, it’s done.  Spend a little more time being thankful for the good things God has blessed us with and that new trouble-free life that we’re promised.  This time ain’t no fine print on the box.