Simple Lessons for a Better Life by Charles E. Dodgen

Author:Charles E. Dodgen [Dodgen, Charles E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781633880177
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Published: 2015-04-13T07:00:00+00:00

THE BODY AS EXECUTOR OF WILL

We not only take in from the world but act on it, too. The body is a vehicle for action. Activities provide for satisfaction and are another source of pleasure in life. This fleshen machine will perform best when well maintained. The more we can utilize our bodies, the more we are able to enjoy.

Vivian always reaches out for a reassuring touch of hands when I come into her room to talk. Her sight is impaired by macular degeneration and, like most people with low vision, she is anxious and wary. Although she recognizes my voice, she desires the comfort of physical contact. On this particular visit, the TV was on and she was listening to a popular morning cooking show: “This girl doesn't know what she's doing. I don't know how she got her own TV show.” Her comment served as a segue into a discussion of her love of cooking and of her missing it: “When my husband was alive and my kids were home, I cooked every night. Even after the kids moved out, I cooked for my husband and myself, and everybody would come over for a big Sunday dinner. We didn't go out like they do today. Why spend all that money when I could make it better at home?” Vivian expressed pride in her skills: “And I could bake, too. Now they just run out to the supermarket when they need a cake; I think it's junk anyway.” Like many people with a passion for cooking, she probably had indulged in her own creations a little too often: she was diagnosed with obesity, hypertension, and high cholesterol, all known risk factors for macular degeneration.

Cooking is not all that Vivian misses. Playing cards, shopping at the mall, and going to bingo were favorite pastimes. But the activity she misses the most is doing needlepoint: “I made a needlepoint quilt for every one of my grandkids when they were born. If there was one thing I wish I could still do, it would be needlepoint. Why did God have to take that from me? I could give everything else up.”

It is unknowable if Vivian's obesity caused or contributed in any way to her visual decline, but the fact remains that her impairment resulted in a great reduction of the sources of joy in her life. A healthy body permits activity; an unhealthy one limits it.

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