When you die your in-basket won't be empty

I have written about my doubts about an afterlife: I believe in God...or do I? I still have the same attitude about what will happen the second after I take my last breath. Will my soul pass from my body and announce its presence? Will I be judged by a God, or His/Her minions? I honestly don't know.The only certainty is that death approaches. The the sand in my hourglass of life (once a large pile with gazzillions of grains!) is running down.

• They put you in
• the cold, cold ground
• with all your relatives
• standing around.
• The worms crawl in
• The worms crawl out
• The worms they crawl all about
• The worms crawl in
• The worms crawl out
• They play pinochle on your snout!

I know that I need to seek a balance. However, I also know that my gene pool has a propensity for dementia. I have learned that a propensity for dementia is based on genetics, ethnicity and gender There are some wild beliefs out there. Some link the propensity for dementia to sexual orientation (shades of AIDS). Beliefs about dementia vary depending on the region of the world, cultural background and acculturation. The following are examples from a study conducted in Mexico of how dementia may be viewed by some families, but should not be assumed to exist in all Mexican families:

• Health is the result of balance among one's faith, nutrition and how one has lived his or her life. The family may deny that an elder suffers from dementia if this person has led a balanced life
• Dementia is considered punishment from God for "improper behavior." The will of God also has the power to alter the illness. Therefore, the family must continue proper care as preparation for forgiveness and the resulting change in cognitive condition
• Memory impairment is a temporary condition caused by nerves which folk healers (curanderos) can cure
• The brain dries up in old age, leading to childlike behavior
  

My uncle shut down when he stopped working. He eventually became a shell of a human being. I honestly don't claim to know what is happening, and what has happened, when a person becomes demented in later life? I have come to conclude that there are a couple of "ideas" as to the process:

• The central figure is a process of degeneration, or some other physical impairment, in the grey matter of the brain; psychological and social factors fade into the background, at least for the purposes of research.
  
• Another gestalt, however, equally valid, can emerge; in this the figure becomes an existential crisis of a person, of an embodied, social and sentient being, and indeed a crisis of an interpersonal milieu; neuropathology, of whatever degree of severity, becomes part of a whole range of peripheral considerations.

So, to summarize, I believe that if I slow down my brain will either shrivel up like a dry sponge, or I will have an existential crisis. Neither is on my "Bucket List". Some may argue, and maybe correctly, that old age should be a time to slow down and smell the coffee. My fear is that, sure, if I slow down, I may have more time to smell the coffee. However, the response from my shriveled brain may be to yell out "Who farted?" So I keep accepting (or placing my own) ideas for the In-basket but I organize and prioritize them in my OneNote application. Many get rejected upon further review. Hopefully, as I continue to age, I will remain as sane as one with my personality type can be classified.

The other evening I came down from my study having correctly identified the incredible aroma of freshly brewed coffee. There's hope for this old man.

May I recommend for your enjoyment: Develop your compassion

See links for all the Genesis posts to date: Genesis Through My Eyes

Also, you may enjoy reading: Don’t sweat the small stuff

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