Patriot Realm

+When I was young, I was invincible. 

I could run across a beach and kick a football and stairs.  Who cares! Just pop up them and look like Rocky in the scene that made him famous.

Nowadays, I can barely walk up or downstairs without doing it very, very carefully. Such is life. 

The problem is that, when we are young, we think that we will be forever young. Life creeps upon us like a stalker who has been following us all of our lives; only we didn't know that we were being stalked. The big thing is that eventually, Life catches up because we have slowed down. 

Oh, those happy days when I could dash around a squash court and jog 10 km without breaking a sweat.  

Now? A quick jog to the bathroom at 2 am is my norm. 

I also don't mind a dash to the fridge to pour a glass of wine and I cheerfully trot back to watch a bit of television or read what is happening on my favorite blogs on the internet.

I guess my life changed when " Covid " hit. 

When I was forbidden to go outside other than to exercise no longer than one hour; to no longer have a chat with friends or neighbors. I think that Life caught up with me in 2020. 

When we were told not to speak to each other. To stand apart and " socially distance. "  

I remember when the world changed forever.  

When ( in previous times of tragedy ) we had a hug, we were told to stay apart.  

Be suspicious of each other. 

Now, we are so accustomed to being socially distanced, that we have become socially distanced.  

Yes, I remember when I used to need human companionship: Now? Not so much. 

I lost the habit.

I no longer go to the bottle shop to buy my tipple. I get it delivered. It has become a habit.

Grocery shopping is something I do out of necessity; not because I enjoy it as I once did.

I no longer go to the cinema. I signed up to watch my movies online. Cheaper and I don't have to sit in a crowded cinema with who knows who and watch what is probably a load of woke rubbish.

Life has become boring. 

The tragedy is, if I am honest, I don't even care anymore.

I find life so dull, so lackluster and so mind-bogglingly predictable that I have started to wonder if I will ever feel joy again.

THIS, unfortunately, is what our government and " Covid "  has done to us.  

It has bled us of hope, of joy and of laughter. It has turned us into nations of miserable, disgruntled, helpless and hopeless sheep.

I am sitting here, writing this and wondering why I feel so old in spite of my ( relatively speaking ) middle to older years? 

It is because of this.

We have been under over 2 years of government control, dictatorship and authoritarianism.

When the West survived the Second World War, it was because the people were fed a diet of hope.

We have spent two years fed on a diet of fear and are now eating a diet of despair. 

Our forthcoming election has no excitement. It is a shrugged shoulder and a personal decision as to who will be the better of the two dreadful alternatives.

We have the choice between fear, more fear; bad and really terrible; doom or a bit more doom with a green salad on the side. 

No matter what, the two alternatives are going to be hard to digest on Sunday.

Of course, I could pray for a miracle and see the minor parties pull off a triumphant win, but I suggest that we have walked too slowly and not climbed the stairs quick enough.

Perhaps the best we can hope for is that they can hold our hands as we step up to more of the same - or, worse, step down the stairway into hell. 

Vote wisely.