I originally wrote this in 2013 when I first started blogging and thought it was relevant to today’s ills. With a few tweaks, here it is for your perusal:

I wonder what my mother would have thought about zombies taking over the world, or what some of us affectionately call “The Zombie Apocalypse.”  Would she have picked up my father’s rifle when she saw them come onto the farm? Would she have aimed and blown them away? Or would she cower inside her house and simply die?

I’d like to think that she would revert back to her old self – that self-confident young woman who went out into the world like That Girl, (a sitcom starring Marlo Thomas) the person she was before settling down into domesticity – marrying my father when he came home from the War (WWII) and having children.

I’d like to think she would be one of those folks who could defend herself and others – and generally take care of business to survive.

The world would certainly be different for her (and for us) if we had another catastrophic event. We would have to relearn how to take care of ourselves and keep ourselves alive. We would have to bring back those skills that we knew from a very long time ago, before convenience food and staying in touch all the time came into play. We would have to survive, not watch Survivor.

We go through a series of ups and downs as we grow older. Some of us embrace change. Others just sit on the sidelines, get grumpy, complain a lot, and become more afraid. Yes, we are getting older, but are we getting wiser? Here is an excerpt from my book, Discover the Life You Want to Live, about this very subject:

• Each of us grows older every day. It’s how we continue to use our time that makes us wiser. What makes a wise person? It is a person we can respect. It is a person who is a hopeless romantic and a reluctant leader. This person has learned capabilities as well as intuitiveness. It is a person who can learn about new things every day. It is a person who has achieved mastery in something. A wise person gives a little to someone each day to make her life better. This is what I am working on as I get older – to be a wise person who is a role model, and a person that people will respect.
• We are all getting older, but are we getting wiser? Are we learning and contributing something to society each day through our actions? Ask yourself, “Why should people listen to me?”  “What right do I have to give advice either to my peers or the younger generation?”  If you believe you have achieved everything you asked of yourself, in the above questions, then you have earned the right to be called a wise woman and be respected.
• Women’s studies describe three archetypes of women:  maiden, mother, and crone. The wise women were known as Crones. A Crone is an idea that we can all embody to help the younger women (maidens). And, with modern medicine, we can become older mothers, which let us bridge the gap between all three. We can create a community that helps each other.

We do get older every day. That’s a fact of life. If we can believe in ourselves, do something good and stop with the “I cant’s,” we can make a plan for what’s to come. We can try to reduce the panic among our neighbors and ourselves if we just check on each other each day.

We can be happy with our lives when we finally leave this world if we can continue to do enough by helping those in need. Watching the news is a nightmare right now. If we can sit back for a peaceful moment each night and prepare for the next day, we’ll be okay. Check in with your neighbors and ignore the nonsense. Yes, things may get worse before it’s better, but we can take care of each other, if we choose this path.

It takes more time and energy to sit around and complain about everything. We have to take this energy and fix the very thing about which we are complaining. Become involved in the little things. And then, maybe we will survive in a Zombie-infested world because we have helped each other every day we live. Love to all on this planet tonight. WE WILL SURVIVE!