Hope to accomplish
      I was surprised by the statement,    I think in "The    View in Winter: Reflections on Old Age" by Ronald Blythe,    that those who are near the end of life have no future.  What?  I    have no future !?!  But I guess it is simply a mathematical fact: the end    ends.  I realize that it may not be imminent.  I don't think it is    and it doesn't  feel that way.  Still, I do see that the view ahead    is very different from the typical view of a person at age 30 or 50.  I    still have needs but they are under control and more and more, I don't    especially need to plan. 
  But    that means that there is less and less I hope to do, less and less I am    working on or toward.  So, I have fewer and fewer goals.  I agree    with the Buddha that having few desires leaves me open to few sources of    suffering.  But I also agree with the zookeepers that an animal is    healthier if it is engaged and not bored to death.  If I had a stronger    mind or maybe a less American hyper-constitution, I might be able to simply    sit and enjoy existing.  I can do that for a while each day but I do    better with a blog, some projects, and some hopes to accomplish by this    evening. 
    


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