Death and Taxes

I figure my own income tax.  I have done this every year since I set out on my inaugural adventure of employ.  I also still have a copy of those early returns, even though I technically no longer need most of them.  More accurately, I suppose, my income tax is figured on my personal computer, replete with ten-key for all the digits and details.  I use the same software every year since the complexity of my tax situation warranted it - you might hear the sigh as I recall the days of procuring a paper form at the local post office and filling the boxes...a simpler time...  

I use the same software, that is, with updates...

The annual task of taxes has me thinking of the process with new focus now in 2020.  Every year, I purchase the new software license and update for that year.  Why?  Every year, there are changes to the law.  As our country and its conscience evolves, so the ways with which our contributions are considered evolve in turn.

How is it that we accept these changes in tax law as a natural (even if begrudging) happening; yet the changes in our physical, emotional, spiritual, relational, fiscal, and other aspects of existence are resisted or denied?  Isn't it logical to believe that the "software" and even the "laws" behind our digestion, musculature, posture, thought-life, social situation, and pocketbook would also show another year has passed?  Perhaps we are too afraid to face the entropy, maybe it's our collective need for control or perceived constancy...but we humans see the certainty of tax law shifting while we dismiss the near-obvious and nuanced shifts in our very-present reality.

What if new software, an update to match our aging hardware, could be as easily obtained as the compact disk from which my tax software is currently extracting files?  Oddly, I think we might better cope with such an update; but the subtle and unyielding ways in which our bodies display the marks of time...that's a "bit of a pickle."

Many books and blog posts and seminars address the inevitable modifications made by on a cellular basis.  Most of those whose reach is recognizable in the United States offer a manner of magic hinting to the fountain of youth.  Fear-based fanaticism over facing the multi-faceted impact of gravity and the consequences of our choices are capitalized upon by those who believe with zealous passion they have the silver bullet...  Granted, these tomes have their merits and can improve the quality of life for those who are able to sift through the diatribes to the diamonds on those pages; but what does the popularity of these writings say about us, really?

Corsets, hair color, creams, girdles, control-tops, push-ups...all aimed at youth-ing, all while making us insecure, uncomfortable, inconvenienced, and indebted, they age us in so many ways, ironically.

What if we recognized the gift age is?

What if the problem is that the software we are using is meant for a model that's obsolete?

What if the upload we require is already within us - and always was?

Jotting with Johnna:

• What might happen if you listened to your current cues of hunger and satiety?
• What if you lovingly stretched and lingered there a bit, rather than rushing to the next thing to do?
• How might you embrace the body, mind, spirit, soul, social circle, and pocketbook you actually have, practicing good stewardship and gratitude?
• Do you think an intuitively-driven stewardship might bring more peace to your daily life?
• Where might you spend the energy and other resources you currently wile away at fighting the years of life with which you are blessed?

Remember:

You are so very worthy of the acceptance and care it takes to see yourself for the changeling you are and allow the changes to happen while also appreciating the wisdom of caretaking...

Stay tuned.  Stay focused.  Stay well.