Altar Call – Opelika-Auburn News
Walter Albritton
August 22, 2010
I
enjoy being around people with spunk
Years ago I laughed at the antics of
Tim Conway on television. His best comedic routines were those in which he
imitated an old man shuffling along, moving one inch at a time. Now there are
days when I realize I am that old man.
When I was young I took pride in my
walking speed. I took long strides. Nobody walked at a faster pace. Friends
would ask me to slow down. Now younger people walk past me as though I am
standing still. At first it was surprising because in my mind I was moving
along rather briskly. Then reality set in. I had to embrace the truth. I am
slower than I thought.
But life is not over for those of us
who are old and slow. We simply have to
be careful about the people we choose to be around. Pessimistic people can make
life miserable. Positive people who can see the funny side of life should be
our first choice. The best of them are the ones who can laugh with us, not at
us, when we take a spill. People who “lecture” us about every mistake can
squeeze the joy out of life.
I like people with spunk, people who
refuse to give up even when the odds seem against them. Somewhere I read a
great story about Johnny Unitas, one of the most famous quarterbacks in NFL
history. On his college team Unitas was a second or third string quarterback.
In one game when his team got behind, he sent himself into the game to replace
the starting quarterback. He did not have the coach’s approval; he just ran on
the field and took over. His leadership turned the game around, his team won,
and the rest is history.
I love the story about the old woman
who was looking for a space to park her bright red Mercedes. Noticing a place up ahead she moved slowly
toward it. Before she could get there, a young man in another car darted in
front of her to claim the parking place. She rolled down her window as the young man walked away and demanded to know why he had been
so rude.
"Lady," he replied with a
smile, "I guess that is what you can do when you are young and
quick." As he walked on he heard tires squalling and looked back just in
time to see the old lady ram her bright red Mercedes into the rear end of his
car. Screaming at the woman as she got out of her car to await the police, the
young man demanded an explanation. "Well, Sonny," she said,
"That’s what you can do when you are old and rich!"
That old woman is my kind of
woman. She knew she was no longer young and quick but she was also realized she
was not dead yet. She knew that older people still have a few options left. One
of those options is to have fun until the end, to stay alive as long as you
live. And it helps to be around people with plenty of spunk.
As we grow older we do lose some
of our abilities. We suffer hearing loss, our eyesight dims, and our physical
strength wanes. But we need not lose our enthusiasm for life itself. One woman
said it this way, "I am 85 now. I can hardly hear thunder. I use a cane to
walk and my eyesight is almost gone. But thank God, I still have my driver’s
license!"
That is the spirit we need to
the end of life. As long as we can we must refuse to throw in the towel and
give up. Once we give up, quality living is over. We may continue to breathe
but instead of living we will merely exist. That time may surely come for many
of us, but we need to put it off as long as we can. Somehow we must find the
spunk to keep going even when our ears, eyes, knees, and backs are failing.
When I met Stanley Jones he was in his late
seventies but he was still hale and hearty. His mind was still sharp; his wit
remained keen. Brother Stanley was an immediate inspiration to me. He had
spunk. Instantly I knew I wanted to be like him. He credited his good health and vitality to
grace, gumption, and grass. By grass he meant the vitamin supplements he
believed in. Gumption is what I call spunk.
Though I have not embraced
Jones’ love of health foods, I still like his plan. It is not a bad formula:
grace, gumption, and grass. My plan is a bit simpler: grace and spunk. So if
you find yourself in my situation- getting older and slower-you may want to a
plan like ours. The "grass" may cost you a few bucks, but the grace
and the spunk are free.
It
takes spunk to choose to hang around positive people. But we do have a choice.
We can walk away, even if it is at the pace of old Tim Conway, from the people
who thrive on bashing us for every miscue. We can decide to spend most of our
time with the people who help us get the most out of life.
Excuse me now. I am headed to the
spunk store for a fresh supply. + + +