Do body frailties cause mistaken judgements?
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Do body frailties cause mistaken judgements?
by James A. Marples
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In my past articles, I like to focus on the best parts of human endeavor. In doing so, we have to focus on the real world. True, we are endowed by our Creator, Almighty God with certain unalienable rights, and also a responsibility to walk uprightly, as best we can. That “best walk” can diminish as we age. Sadly, some people can perceive things that aren’t necessarily so. They may be seeing through a clouded prism of bipolar, schizophrenia, depression or malaise. Just over a year ago, I was briefly prescribed a medicine for dementia, Donepezil (which I wrote down to remember). It was later held back. No way of telling if I have that disease or not, conclusively, barring an autopsy which I don’t want and obviously wouldn’t have, while living. However, I am on other medications for anxiety and other maladies.
My maternal grandfather, Adolph Riedl, Sr., was a WWI veteran who likely had dementia. I saw him when I was a young boy when he was in mental hospitals in Kansas in the early 1970’s. He had issues and staying in the hospitals helped keep him safe. Just a brief summary of his past: He came through a World War I era injury, crop failures, losing a farm, swinging an axe near a clothesline splitting his head wide-open, and much more.
For people of today (like myself): need to orient our lives to what counts; and that is now. Like they say, the past is a cancelled note, and tomorrow is a promissory note. People can learn from the past, but it is behind them, so they should move on (if they can).
I find the hardest thing to do (in my case) is to take care of myself the best I can and do not dwell on the past. I wholeheartedly believe in God and the power of prayer. I believe in “doing good” toward others. I would like to hope that people would “do good” towards me. It is vital to be kind and humble. I need to do that more often. I believe in the Golden Rule, the Ten Commandments, the Bible, the Serenity Prayer, and in forgiveness for transgressions. When I was age 20, I had cancer. When I was 38 a car ran a red light breaking my leg. And at 48, I had a massive oak tree fall on my head. Gradually, all that, took a toll on me.
In my own case, I have had a PCP doctor and various specialists who have tried CT scans, MRI scans, CT-A scans, blood tests, urinalysis, and more analytical stuff. I have been poked and been looked at so much, I feel weary and I even have sleep problems as well as a long-time walking-balance disorder. I can truthfully say, it has affected my physical and emotional state, at times. I wish the movement disorder would be cured.
I truly wish I could be released from the physical and mental burdens from the past, and focus on a brighter future. I am at a point when the mistakes and transgressions, large and small are so fuzzy, I don’t know what was real versus what was imagined. With my weakened physical body, it sometimes clouds my judgment into doing things, such as procrastinating on decisions and delaying acts which I would never otherwise dream of doing. Some medications I take are plenty stout. Just the other day, made a relatively medium mistake. It basically affected only me. However, that is the kind of mistake I’m talking about. I’d like to think almost everybody qualifies for quick redemption. Body frailty is no fun. Growing older is tough. On that note, I would hope that middle and older-age people will be cut some slack even if they make several mistakes in judgments.
When I was a boy, I saw an older lady cut across a neighbor’s yard corner which had a sign saying “Stay Off The Grass” and “No Trespassing”. She looked physically able to go a few more steps, but I once talked to her, and she was not that physically agile. She had bad arthritis. She cut corners (literally) out out necessity to her. Although she wore a path in the grass on the property-owner’s yard, she intended not to. She may have done wrong; but she just intended to get by in this world. Thankfully that other neighbor (the landowner) continued to permit the older lady to crisscross his yard. We need more compassionate souls in America today who are willing to overlook the sins and mistakes of others.