A MOUNTAIN TOP VIEW

A MOUNTAIN TOP VIEW

A police car pulled up in front of an older woman's house, and her
husband climbed out. The polite policeman explained that "this elderly
gentleman" said that he was lost in the park and couldn't find his way
home.

"How could it happen?" asked his wife. "You've been going to that park
for over 30 years! How could you get lost?"

Leaning close to her ear so that the policeman couldn't hear, he
whispered, "I wasn't lost - I was just too tired to walk home."

These bodies become less cooperative as we age. For some, work becomes
less fun and fun becomes more work. One older friend commented, "I've
reached the age where the warranty has expired on my remaining teeth
and internal organs."

But I like the spirit of Charles Marowitz. "Old age is like climbing a
mountain," he says. "The higher you get, the more tired and breathless
you become. But your view becomes much more extensive."

Atop the mountain, one has a better view of the world. One can see
above the differences that divide people. One can better see beyond
petty hurts and human fragility. Atop the mountain, one has a longer
view of the past and can therefore understand the future with more
clarity. Atop the mountain, one looks down on dark clouds of gloom and
despair and fear and notices that they are neither as large nor as
ominous as those beneath them would believe. It is also clearer that
however dark they may appear, they too, are fleeting and will someday
pass.

George Bernard Shaw said, "Some are younger at seventy than most at
seventeen." I think it is because they have a broader outlook.

It will take a lifetime to climb the mountain, but, for me, the view
will be worth the journey.

-- Steve Goodier