Life is full of anniversaries. Most, such as Christmas and New Years, are generally about pleasant events, although for some families, dates can also be reminders of losses or tragedies. Other anniversaries, such as Nov. 11 and Sept. 11 are about sad events.
How we perceive an anniversary not only affects how we celebrate it but also how we handle the issue that the anniversary is about.
Anniversaries are markers on our journey through life. They involve going back and re-experiencing part of our history, without becoming locked in that history. They also involve looking ahead at the future.
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You have the power to choose which anniversaries to hang onto, which you gradually let go of, and how you celebrate them. Anniversaries can be milestones, millstones or both.
This month has a number of anniversaries for me. This week, I celebrate 25 years of writing this column for the Western Producer. I also celebrate the third anniversary of my columns being available to the world on the internet.
I celebrated my 65th birthday 12 days ago. Besides getting a federal tax rebate in the form of Old Age Security, I also celebrated that, due to improved medical and health-care systems, I still have an average life expectance of 14 years, more than it was for people when I was born in 1938. I also remind myself that the best thing to do about birthdays is to keep having them.
With my 65th birthday also comes some creakiness in the joints and a reminder I need to put effort into maintaining my human machinery by eating right and exercising, which takes discipline and planning.
Plan for the future
Anniversaries are times to reflect on the past, but also to celebrate and challenge the future. Anniversaries are not just party times.
They are work times, and I hope to continue to work at sharing my ideas with my readers and responding to your concerns.
Ten years ago, I went on a speaking tour of the Prairies to celebrate my 15th anniversary. Various groups or communities contacted me and I managed to spend a week on the road speaking to eight different groups in Saskatchewan or Alberta.
I plan the same for either the last week of March or the first week of April 2004. This time I will restrict my travels to Saskatchewan and western Manitoba.
I am prepared to speak on a wide variety of topics, such a stress, assertiveness, depression, anxiety attacks, bereavement, communication, couple relationships, separation, spouse abuse, men’s issues, prostate cancer, women’s issues, parenting – in other words, the many topics Ihave written about in this column since 1979.
Groups that invite me will be responsible for filling my gas tank, filling my stomach and, should it be necessary, finding me a billet for the night.
I need to hear from interested community groups by the end of January. I hope you can be flexible on the day and time for me to speak because I want to co-ordinate my travel to increase my availability to groups and to minimize the number of hours on the road between speaking locations.
I enjoyed my travels to meet my readership 10 years ago, and look forward to meeting many more readers in late March or early April next year.
Interested groups can cotact me at 17 Ð 24 St. East, Prince Albert, Sask., S6V 1R3, phone 306-764-1214 or e-mail petergrif@sasktel.net.
Peter Griffiths is a mental health counsellor based in Prince Albert, Sask. His columns are intended as general advice only. His website is www3.sk.sympatico.ca/petecope.
