2019 so far...

2019 is not going down in history as one of the happier times in my life. In actuality, this getting old business is for the birds.

Two cracked ribs, a bashed knee, and a knuckle laceration. These sound like the result of a prizefighting boxing match or some shit, but no, it's what happened to me just this year in everyday life. The ribs I cracked myself over two different occasions. The left one on SuperBowl Sunday reaching for something over the arm of my couch. The right one at work reaching over the side of a large blue wheeled trash bin when some nameless clerk from the prior shift left trash in the recycle bin instead of cardboard only. It says "cardboard only" posted right on the side of the bin! And I took it upon myself to remove the offending mailers tossed in. The laceration happened at work through the fault of a well-meaning clerk just trying to help but instead, the Acco fastener sliced through the knuckle on my right thumb and it wouldn't stop bleeding. That happened about 10 days before my vacation. Oh, and then there was the time when I overpacked for my vacation and on the way home I fell onto the marble floor at Regan Airport before my flight. Not fun. My left knee was a mess and still, I can't quite function as it did before. I'm hoping time will take care of it, but really feeling older than I ever have before, it leaves me thinking how much time do I really have left on this miserable planet and what else can go wrong?

I think the rest of the year I really need to focus on self-preservation and paring down. It's amazing all of the stuff we accumulate that is useful for a period, but we can't let go of even when it's not being used anymore. When things get retained in your life because they are attached to memories instead of people, that's when life gets ugly. And I'm glad I don't have this problem, but look, I had to clear out both of my parent's abodes after the died so it allows me the following perspective:

How big will the pile of stuff be that you allowed yourself to live with on the day your mortal soul passes onto its next plane of existence? And what kind of financial and/or legal turmoil will you leave behind for "loved ones" to deal with?