How is it that I am supposed to feel when I see my parents, who are 75 and 77, surrounding themselves with so much negativity that they begin the wait for dying instead of living the rest of their lives?
As long as I can remember, my parents, particularly my mother, have told us to not bother getting additional insurance when we travel. My mother is a huge believer in self-fulfilling prophecy: If you believe you are going to get sick, you ARE going to get sick.
One of her friends just went on her "cruise of a lifetime" trip, and while she was on the cruise, she never left her stateroom because of fierce pains she was experiencing in her lower abdomen. By the time she arrived in Venice, they took her off the ship and delivered her to a hospital, where she is now awaiting surgery for a lower bowel obstruction. The truth is, she was having symptoms, and a ton of pain, before she got on the ship. But this experience, combined with some friends' ridiculous stories about how they got really sick on their trip to Egypt years ago and their prediction that my parents will suffer the same fate, have convinced my parents that they now need to get additional insurance. Which tells me that they believe they ARE going to get sick.
I am furious at their mindset, and I told them so. If I was going on a trip and was convinced that I needed to get additional insurance, I would expect the worst. If I behaved this way around my mother while I was growing up, she would have lectured me for days. Apparently, though, I am not allowed to mention to them that they are behaving that way. They "know best."
So I'll just sit here and wait for the phone call from Egypt to tell me that somebody is sick, or hurt, and then get to say I told you so? Really? What happened to all the "positive thinking" I was always told to have? When did 75 and 77 become "old"? My grandfather lived to 98. So what's the problem? If you're that afraid to travel, then cancel the goddamn trip and stay at home where you're all safe and snug.
I just can't believe that my vital, adventurous parents have now decided to label themselves as "old". No, maybe they can't run around like carefree teenagers, but to decide that they need to get the travel insurance (and it's for healthcare only, fyi) is a mistake.
I can already hear my mother: "We're not young anymore. We're senior citizens. It just makes sense for us to have the extra insurance." Really? Why? Why not just cancel the trip? Stay home for the next 25 years and watch the walls get smaller.
Pissed? You bet I am. I am trying all that I can to keep negative thoughts out of my life right now, and to hear my parents with all this worry-wart bullshit just invites more negative crap right back in the picture. I'm not saying that you should take careless risks, I'm just saying that everyday should be fully lived.
I repeat: You have the choice to sit around and wait to die, or live the rest of your life. Worrying falls into the first choice. Ditch it. It's a waste of your time. Start living like you mean it.
d.
As long as I can remember, my parents, particularly my mother, have told us to not bother getting additional insurance when we travel. My mother is a huge believer in self-fulfilling prophecy: If you believe you are going to get sick, you ARE going to get sick.
One of her friends just went on her "cruise of a lifetime" trip, and while she was on the cruise, she never left her stateroom because of fierce pains she was experiencing in her lower abdomen. By the time she arrived in Venice, they took her off the ship and delivered her to a hospital, where she is now awaiting surgery for a lower bowel obstruction. The truth is, she was having symptoms, and a ton of pain, before she got on the ship. But this experience, combined with some friends' ridiculous stories about how they got really sick on their trip to Egypt years ago and their prediction that my parents will suffer the same fate, have convinced my parents that they now need to get additional insurance. Which tells me that they believe they ARE going to get sick.
I am furious at their mindset, and I told them so. If I was going on a trip and was convinced that I needed to get additional insurance, I would expect the worst. If I behaved this way around my mother while I was growing up, she would have lectured me for days. Apparently, though, I am not allowed to mention to them that they are behaving that way. They "know best."
So I'll just sit here and wait for the phone call from Egypt to tell me that somebody is sick, or hurt, and then get to say I told you so? Really? What happened to all the "positive thinking" I was always told to have? When did 75 and 77 become "old"? My grandfather lived to 98. So what's the problem? If you're that afraid to travel, then cancel the goddamn trip and stay at home where you're all safe and snug.
I just can't believe that my vital, adventurous parents have now decided to label themselves as "old". No, maybe they can't run around like carefree teenagers, but to decide that they need to get the travel insurance (and it's for healthcare only, fyi) is a mistake.
I can already hear my mother: "We're not young anymore. We're senior citizens. It just makes sense for us to have the extra insurance." Really? Why? Why not just cancel the trip? Stay home for the next 25 years and watch the walls get smaller.
Pissed? You bet I am. I am trying all that I can to keep negative thoughts out of my life right now, and to hear my parents with all this worry-wart bullshit just invites more negative crap right back in the picture. I'm not saying that you should take careless risks, I'm just saying that everyday should be fully lived.
I repeat: You have the choice to sit around and wait to die, or live the rest of your life. Worrying falls into the first choice. Ditch it. It's a waste of your time. Start living like you mean it.
d.
