The cycle...

   Ever wish you could stop the cycle?  I mean
just hit the brakes and stop !  This winter has
been terrible.  Yes the weather was part of it
but I'm talking just terrible in general.  I lost
way too many friends this winter. Some were
younger .. some older,  but most I thought were
in better shape than myself.  That in itself is scary.
Two weeks ago I joked with a friend in our little
breakfast club.  Today he's no longer among us.
I guess It's just having the time indoors out of
this nasty weather that gives us the time to
dwell on such things.  Personally, I know most
all the aches and pains that I have could be
helped or even eliminated with proper diet and
exercise but that's where the cycle starts.  After
forty years of pulling wrenches ,walking concrete
floors in heavy boots and swinging shifts one gets
beat up a bit.  Things wear out.  Shoulders not bad
enough for surgery but just bad enough to wake you
twice a night with pain. A back that you have to baby
least you spend a couple nights on the floor.  Little
things like that that people don't see in your everyday
life.  Yes.. everybody has problems.  In a way I'm glad
mine are the physical sort.  I pity the people with deep
emotional stress that is so hard to cope with and even
harder to talk about and seek help.  Oops .. off subject
again.  What I'm getting at is after a restless night
with broken sleep  you awaken to a day of bitter cold. 
Now in fair weather I would just take a walk, limber up
the old joints and come back whistling a song.  But now
I cower down,eat a bunch of unhealthy food, slouch around
in the recliner, take a nap so that I won't be able to fall asleep
till half past whatever, do a little snacking and go to bed. 
Then repeat the cycle.
  After a short break from this post I returned to it on a
little warmer day with a somewhat different outlook.
First after reading it I noticed that Instead of whining about
my problems .. I alone have the means of correcting them.
I knew that all along but chose to whine anyway. Today I did
a little  shopping , took a little walk and wa laa .. perked right up !
Will I wake up tonight with shoulder pain?  probably.  Will
I stop losing friends?  Probably not.  But for now I've got
myself up out of the ditch and back on the road.  But boy is
it a slippery trail.  I'm reminded an old song 'Tears of a Clown'
I imagine everyone of us has issues of some sort hiding behind
our daily smiles.  I guess the main thing is to suck it up and
keep smiling.  After all .. no sense fowling up someone
day.  They may hiding much larger problems behind their smile.