Getting From ‘Point A’ to ’Point B’

    Each morning when I roll out of bed, I place both feet on the floor, grab my bathrobe, pour myself a hot cup of coffee and begin to make my plans for the upcoming day. For many years. those plans mostly focused on getting ready for work. But with retirement, it is a very different kind of planning. For the most part, today’s planning focuses on activities that I prefer to do rather than those I have to do except if it's one of those days when the car needs to have an oil change or more recently, getting ready for winter by having the snow tires put on the car.

   Sometimes there are some things that happen that cause one to pause and think about. Why did that happen? Why now? Is someone trying to send me a message?  Let me give you an example.

    My use of technology has been fairly limited. Let’s just call it old school.  I have a cell phone and a compute and pretty much limit their use to the basic, nothing fancy, use for what were initially designed to do. For example using my computer to write this column.

   But recently we added a new piece of technology to our home. She is called Alexa. And much to our surprise she has added some new and interesting dynamic entertainment to our household.

   For example. When coming downstairs in the morning and preparing the coffee I announce her name and ask her what the weather is going to be for that particular day, what the important news stories were for the last for the past 24 hours and then ask her to play some music for a few minutes. And being the old-fashioned person that I am, I’ll admit, this is pretty cool.

The other morning I asked her to play some songs. And the first song was a song by Bob Dylan. Its title? “The Times They Are A-Changing”. Now let me tell you. That was pretty scary. I snapped my head around to see if anyone else was in the room. Why that song?  Why today? But as I settled in with my hot coffee I began to think about what had happened and was it appropriate for Alexa to remind me just how much the times have changed. (She is pretty smart.) Yes. It was a big step to bring Alexa into the house but in the brief time we have had her, she really has added a lot of entertainment and in some respects made life a bit easier. She is a wealth of knowledge. Now I don’t have to dig out the encyclopedia to look something up. Just ask her a question and you will see how smart she is.

   So what causes us to take risks, to try new things, and hopefully move ahead from Point A to Point B, especially if you are not a risk taker? To be honest, if I had not had the opportunity to spend a bit of time with Alexa, I probably would not have been so anxious to purchase one. But that experience, a ‘Point A’ for me in my daily life, while looking out over the calm waters of Downeast Maine, moved me to point B, trying something new. Not a big deal, but then some things don’t have to be.

   As each day passes, it sometimes becomes more challenging to move ahead, to take that step into the unknown. Today’s world is not what I would have hoped for. The distrust, hate, anger, which is reported each day sets an unfortunate tone for life in 2022. But then the reminder from Alexa and the song from Bob Dylan can encourage each of us to make decisions to move forward from ‘Point A’ to ‘Point B’, to plan a day knowing that maybe at some point there will be a new experience or opportunity that will provide new and exciting adventures. Yes…. the times are changing, but the will always be a ‘Point A’ and ‘Point B’ in our personal lifetimes if we allow for them and are willing to take the risk.

   So…. Alexa…. what shall I have for dinner tonight? Something Greek you say? But I don’t how to cook Greek food. Oh. A new learning experience? I get it. Thank you.

(I was not able to read this aloud as I often do because every time I read her name, she responded with some type of answer. 😊)