PROMISES, PROMISES...
“A DREAM IS A VISION - A GOAL IS A PROMISE.” (1)
You know when you get up
some mornings and the sun
is shining, you just feel it’s
going to be a great day. Or sometimes
you get up and you receive
a wonderful phone call from a
precious grandchild, what could be
better? Getting up from bed each
day is a blessing; however, after getting
up, the next step is to be able to
get out of bed.
This morning I was smiling, all
set to do the myriad of chores grabbing
at my attention. Somehow, just
putting my foot on the floor and
standing not only grabbed my attention
but overrode every thought and
plan for the day. At that moment
with my hands extended for balance.
and unable to bend or move
my legs to walk, I suddenly felt I
had become a model for author
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. What
happened? I went to bed happy as
a clam and woke up as twisted as
a pretzel. Did I have a fight during
the night and lose? Did my one of
my five minute bi-monthly exercise
routines finally catch up with me?
As I crept back into bed, I really
started to moan, groan and kvetch.
It wasn’t “hip hip hooray” anymore,
it was like, “my hip, oy vey.” I’m
usually so careful when it comes to
physically overextending myself. I
go the gym at least once or twice a
year. All of a sudden, the right side
of my body was no longer communicating
with me and if it was, I
2021
didn’t understand the language it
September was using. After some very painful
moments, I made a promise to
myself that I would find out how
I inflicted this situation on myself
and avoid it from happening ever
¢again.
COURIER Wait! I think I went through this
process a few months ago. I’m not
too sure. Why did I not pay more
attention to it? However, now, that
TOWERS I was in a more contemplative
mood, I tried to think back to a
reason why this could have happened
at all. It suddenly occurred to
SHORE me that maybe last week I overdid
it when the three cases of water I
purchased, because of a huge fifty
I promise to organize chores into
NORTH cent discount, and then shlepped
categories:
into my grocery cart, that also needed
1. Things I won’t do now.
to be lifted at the cash register
2. Things I won’t do later.
26 and then returned to the cart, and
3. Things I’ll never do. (2) later lifted from the cart and into
the trunk of my car, was not such
a great idea. Of course, I did not
try to trouble my doorman who is
recovering from back surgery, so I
then proceeded to take one case up
to my apartment every other day –
loading and unloading along the
way. Here’s a fact I’m going to share
with you - I really can’t stand water,
but to have a bottle available when
I might need it is okay.
I now have 96 bottles at my
(pardon the pun) beck and call,
from those three cases and oh yes,
an extra case of non-water, called
sciatica. I didn’t have to carry the
sciatica. It transported itself and
took a scenic route down to my
leg – with stops at my hip, my knee
and my calf. By the way, I also
have a pink self-stick gauze bandage
around a broken toe, a green
brace around my water-logged knee,
and a turquoise brace around my
lower back. The brace has a double
function. It eases my achy back
and also works as a girdle. (You
remember those things don’t you?
They’re called body shapers now.)
I’m not into psychedelic drugs like
Jewish LSD (Lox, Seedless bagels
and Dollops of creams cheese)
but possibly psychedelic bandages.
There’s no joy anywhere!
I have to confess, I don’t wait
until New Year’s Eve to make resolutions,
which is really another
word for promises. I promise myself
a lot of things almost on a daily
basis. I promise if I don’t eat that
extra (?) piece of cake for dessert,
I’ll look better in that skin tight
dress. Really? s one day going to
do it? Besides, how can a swing
dress suddenly be re-labeled skin
tight? Am I on something I’m not
aware of? Does your doctor also
order brownies for you from the
pharmacy or is it only mine?
In looking back, I think we all
began to make promises starting
with the day we were born only we
didn’t know it then. For example,
as an infant, if we didn’t get fed
on time we instinctively promised
ourselves we would wail our little
hearts out to let everyone know we
were hungry. Our families caught
on fast after that. How about a diaper
change? We taught them about
that even faster.
Think about it….signing a check
is a promise to pay for something,
signing a contract is promising to
fulfil an obligation and the biggie--a
wedding license. Lately, I’ve discovered
lots of people don’t keep
that promise, that’s why there are
divorce lawyers. There are some
promises built into gestures. How
about a smile or a caress? Aren’t
they nonverbal promises of love
and kindness?
Do you remember what we called
the “come hither look” and what
that promised? It’s defined as “a
tempting, often sexual invitation
made with your eyes.” I really need
to be careful. I have cataracts, and
last week I extended my “come
hither” look to what I thought was
a tall, brown-eyed, handsome guy.
He looked adorable and had a great
smile but after that first big kiss, I
realized I had “come hithered” a St.
Bernard. You know until I put my
glasses back on, I thought I really
found the right one.
How about a promissory note
where you promise to pay a debt?
Our government has been issuing
promissory notes forever. We call
it money. I’m sure there are tons
of promises for different reasons,
times and places, but for expediency
and to prevent finger cramps
from typing, I promised myself I’ll
stick to these few examples for now.
During my research about promises,
I’ve discovered that promises
to yourself are the most important.
You can’t learn the true value of a
promise too early in life. When I
was a teacher and read to my class
or read to my own children, one of
my favorite storybook characters,
Horton the Elephant, taught children
the lesson of a promise early
on. Horton the Elephant from Dr.
Seuss’ “Horton Hatches the Egg,”
is the story of an elephant who
despite many challenges sits faithfully
on a bird’s nest in a tree for 51
weeks after he promises the mother
he will babysit the egg. Throughout
the story, while fulfilling his promise
he repeatedly declares, “I meant
what I said and I said what I meant.
An elephant’s faithful one-hundred
percent.” His reward is that when
the egg hatches, instead of a bird,
it’s a baby elephant that resembles
Horton and it is able to fly. It is also
a wonderful example for children
teaching them at their level about
about the transformative power of
love as well as loyalty and responsibility
while keeping a promise.
Sometimes I have to question, what
happens to that lesson as we get
older?
While I’m in the mood, I’ve
decided to add a few more promises
to my list of self promises. Maybe
you share some similar thoughts.
PROMISE #1