Yes, you can still find them, but it is getting harder! Ticks more specifically, a clock that ticks. There is a sense of permanence in the sound of a ticking clock. I haven’t heard that sound in years but earlier this week, the rhythmic sound emanating from the corner of my dining room of a ticking clock, captured my attention. Even in the digital age in which we live, whether we hear it or not, time still ticks away.
Everything is Different
It was early in the morning, one day this week, that it became apparent that I forgot a lesson that I learned just a few months back. Once again misinterpreted “chat” to mean “chat” when it’s obvious that it’s a code word that could also mean a telephone call. I was up and getting ready to write this weeks post when a message on the bottom or my screen popped up from a friend who wanted to “chat.” You can imagine my surprise when my lovely wife walked into the living room and handed me my phone some time around 1:30 AM.
He and I have something in common. He is on the same journey as I, with the exception of his 10-year head start, trying to navigate the subtle changes in our respective conditions. It was near the end of our conversation when he made mention of the degenerative nature of Parkinson’s. He noticed a progression in his condition over the past few years. He concluded our chat with a reminder that, “Time was ticking away.” At the time, I didn’t read much into it. After all, it was early.
“Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different.” ~ C.S. Lewis
Counting Ticks
Recently, I was surprised with a generous gift given to me by my Aunt. My father, when he was still alive, sold his grandfather clock to her. When she began to simplify her life, she felt that it was necessary that the clock should be returned to someone in his family. I was the recipient of her generosity. It’s ironic that only a few hours after my conversation with my friend, it was the ticking of that grandfather clock that was capturing my attention and keeping me awake. Yes, even in this digital age, time still ticks away.
Time has a natural rhythm; each day has the same number of hours, each hour has the same number of minutes, and each minute has the same number of seconds. Like most mornings, I measure the time that I spent awake in terms of minutes or hours. What would happen if I were to convert those minutes and hours to the number of ticks coming from that clock?
That morning, I allowed my disease to own me for 7,200 ticks of my clock. If that same scenario plays out five times each week, the number grows to 36,000 ticks, and even more disturbing 1,872,000 ticks annually are taken off my clock.
The Loss of the Ticks
I would like nothing more than to get my ticks back. However, I have accepted as reality that it isn’t going to happen. I want dexterity in my hand to return, but I may have to concede that it is gradually waning. I would be thrilled if I could walk through the house at night without shuffling my feet, but that too seems less likely with each tick of the clock. There may come a day that I, too, will reiterate the same sentiments as my friend that, “Time is ticking away.” So where does that leave me? Does the quote from Frankyl referenced in my last post still hold?
Maybe I am reaching too far back. Maybe I don’t need to look back any farther than one of my loyal readers who has a knack of finding just the words of wisdom. His simple words..
“Today, I choose to be happy and blessed.”
Today I am reminded never to quit fighting and never to give up; not to allow what I lost, to cloud what I found; or to beg for the return to an illusion at the expense of what is real. His words are now mine…
“Today, I choose to be happy and blessed”.
My thanks go out to all of you that are showing me how to make the most of my ticks.
Thanks for reading and liking, sharing is even better.
I know, Ivy, I ran a little long. No, you don’t get paid overtime.
Al and his faithful, but exacerbated sidekick, Ivy the wonder pup.