In 2017, I bought a cheap ukulele and watched
YouTube videos to learn a few chords. At first, I thought I might be too old to
learn to play an instrument.
I started practicing with the family band, which
increased my learning curve. Before long, my new skill led to playing and
singing with them in local nursing homes and a retirement community.
I’ve found that I’m not too old to learn new
songs. We practice our material before we play in public. It’s always fun to
learn new material. Some songs are easy to learn, but others are a challenge.
The thing I’ve noticed is that sometimes the more challenging songs become embedded
in my memory. Singing is fun and learning new tunes is good mental exercise.
Playing music for appreciative audiences is good
for the soul—theirs and mine. Music can be a
connection to the past, and I’m always gratified when I see faces light
up as they sing along. A song they haven’t heard before can also make a
connection. I’m sure most of the residents had never heard “Ozark Mountain
Lullaby” but after I sang it a few times, many of them sang along with the
la-la-la part. A visitor at one of the homes last month held a baby in her
arms, and she was singing that part to her baby. Be still my heart!
A few weeks ago, I brought my mom’s guitar home
with me and thought that since I had it, I might as well see if I could play
it. The chords seemed awkward at first, and I was beginning to wonder whether I
would ever get my fingers in the correct positions. After a few days, I
realized that I had learned several basic chords. Now, I just have to develop
the muscle memory to be able to change swiftly from one chord to another.
As I sat practicing G and C chords, Harold said,
“That guitar sounds really good.”
“Imagine how good it would sound if I knew what I
was doing.”
I have firmly convinced myself that I’m not too
old to learn something new. It takes practice, practice, and more practice. It
takes perseverance with a healthy amount of stubbornness.
Learning new skills is good brain exercise, and
without a doubt, my brain needs all the exercise it can get!
I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve slowed down
with age. With another birthday looming over me, I want to focus on what I can
do rather than what I can’t do.
You are never too old to laugh. I still have a
good sense of humor and I find humor in everyday life. I’m nearly deaf in one
ear and my husband is nearly deaf in both ears. A few days ago, I was getting
ready to leave for my mom’s house, and I told Harold that I was taking some
“hens and chickens” to my mom. Okay, I should have said “hens and chicks”
because that’s what the succulent plant is called. What I said and what he
heard were two different statements. He asked, “Why are you taking candy kisses
to your mom?”
I’ve never been mechanically inclined so I had the
guy that mows our lawn check the oil in my mower. He flipped the seat forward
and checked the oil. Several days later, I decided to use the mower to move
some wood chips from the pile. The mower started fine, but when I released the
brake, the mower died. After about four trys, I realized something was wrong. I
thought about the kill switch that stops the mower if you fall off. I flipped
the seat forward and sure enough, all I had to do was connect the two ends. So,
I guess you’re never too old to do it yourself.
You are never too old to say no, even if you’ve spent a lifetime saying yes. If the covid
shutdown taught me one thing, it was that one of the blessings of life is to do
nothing at all from time to time. I’ve spent the last two decades of my life
going in so many directions that at times I’ve lost my way. The pressure of
trying to make all the meetings, appointments, and make headway on all the
ongoing projects left my head spinning. Literally!
I believe that keeping busy is good for the body and
brain, but we all know what happens when we overload a circuit. My goal for the
upcoming months is to focus on the activities that bring joy into my life. I
want to decompress, de-stress, and embrace each day as a gift of abundant
living.
Copyright © June 2024 by
L.S. Fisher
http://earlyonset.blogspot.com
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