Conversation With…A Wise, Older Butt…Enjoying looking back with wisdom and perspective

/ overthehillontheyellowbrickroad

Over the Hill on the Yellow Brick Road, I noticed an older butt bopping happily down an endless, winding path. It seemed perfectly content with the world, so I ran to catch up with it and find out why.

butt 2

 

Excuse me, butt. Mind if I walk with you?

BUTT: Not at all. It’s a beautiful day for a walk. Actually, so is every day.

You know, I couldn’t help noticing, even though you’re older, you have such a happy way about you.

BUTT: Of course I do. As a butt, I was born to grow older.

Why do you say that?

BUTT: Well, I think I can speak for all butts when I say we’re always the last part of the body to get where we’re going. So, as a butt, I love looking back on where I’ve been and what I’m leaving behind. I love the perspective and wisdom it brings. Every day, as I grow a day older, I have more to look back on and ponder.

I see. I guess I could look at the world that way, too. I mean, I have a butt.

BUTT: Clearly you haven’t had a conversation with it.

Not to date. 

BUTT: I think the best part of being a butt is, you can look back on a situation or event in your life, leave it behind, and watch what it’s like as it continues to go on without you.

What’s great about that?

BUTT: It gives you closure. So you can move on with your life. To your next adventure.

I’m not sure what you mean.

BUTT: Well, for example, I guess you could relate it to being an empty nester. You can look back and watch your kids enjoying their lives even though you’re not there with them all the time. You can see how happy they are. Maybe that will bring you peace.

No. I don’t want my kids to be happy without me.

BUTT: Okay then, here’s another advantage. Looking behind, watching a moment that has passed, helps you draw upon inner strength.

How?

BUTT: If you’re having a problem, you can look back on another, similar problem you’ve had in your life and watch the way you handled it and made it through.

True. I mean, like, during my lifetime, I’ve been in situations where my mind said it wanted to do one thing… but my body did another.

BUTT: Like when?

I had infertility issues. My mind wanted to have a child, but the rest of my body would not. Another time when I had headaches, my mind wanted them to stop but my head would not. And another time, when I had tinnitus, my head wanted the noise in my ears to stop, but my ears weren’t up for it.

BUTT: See? And I assume you got through all that stuff.

Yes. And now, my stomach is giving me trouble. My head wants my body to be all right, but my stomach’s not having it. And–

BUTT: Okay, okay. You don’t have to tell me everything. I’m not that interested.

I’m just saying, looking back on situations I’ve made it through helps me remember what I’m capable of.

BUTT: That has been my point all along.

Well, thank you for your help.

BUTT: And I want to thank YOU. During our entire conversation, you haven’t made one butt joke. I appreciate it. Those jokes are so annoying.

I know. They’re AS-inine.

BUTT: Are you proud of yourself now?

__________________________________________________

That ended our conversation. The butt waddled down the path, while I looked for a place to rest. But this time, I looked for a spot to sit that was exceptionally comfortable.  

Copyrightoverthehillontheyellowbrickroad2018

How do YOU create closure so you can move on?

85 thoughts on “Conversation With…A Wise, Older Butt…Enjoying looking back with wisdom and perspective”

  1. I only allow myself to angst about it for a prescribed period of time, say 1/2 hour every day in the morning. Then I firmly put it out of mind until the next day. Finally one day arrives that I don’t angst. I know it sounds weird but it works.

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  2. I create closure but trying to look forward and ignoring all the looking back, mulling over and over, and wringing of hands…yes, moving forward and leaving the nasty butts behind…works every time. 🙂

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  5. Yes, But . . . when I find myself complaining about something over and over without coming up with a solution, I find what I am REALLLY longing for is for someone to come and take care of me!!!

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    • Ha ha. I think mumbling and grumbling helps because it keeps the pain behind closure at a gentler level. Sometimes when I need closure and I let the sadness go to a deeper level and upset myself, it’s not so great. When I reach that point, maybe next time I’ll do some cleaning too. LOL

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  7. It’s good to have a happy butt! If it wasn’t it would be a pain to sit on 🙂 On a more serious note, I find focused meditation and forgiveness work wonders

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  8. I write 🙂 I keep a private journal elsewhere in which I basically describe whatever the problem is, consider it from various perspectives, then re-frame it in terms of a lesson, at which point I am usually ready to move on from it.

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  9. 😀 Funny! And not surprisingly, I too have moved on to stomach issues. Our pastor at church had an illustration this past Sunday that really spoke to me. Concerning sheep and shepherds – sometimes the shepherd will put the herd in a stone corral for a time, usually before he takes them somewhere really nice, like a green pasture. Some sheep want to jump out of the corral, they are not content being in the corral. Since sheep are kind of dumb, the other sheep will try to follow the “jumper”. In order to preserve the flock, the shepherd has to break the sheep from it’s bad habit. It hit me that I am like that sheep. I’m not content where I am, always trying to get over the fence. I don’t want to be broken. And I think my friends are growing weary of my moanings (frankly, I’m getting tired of myself lol). But best of all, I’m finding all sorts of amazing people going through the same thing so there is a true sense of camaraderie in this new stage of life.

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  10. I have to admit, the post title had me laughing before I read what you wrote. So, my question is this. Is there really such a thing as closure? We all react to situations differently; growing older, the death of a loved one, etc. Do we eventually feel a different reaction? It’s a tough subject but you’ve got me thinking!!

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  12. This conversation really speaks to me at the moment as I’m trying to put recent events with my mum behind me and start looking forward to greener pastures to rest my butt on. 😉 I used the half an hour of angst method myself some time ago and it kind of worked too but then too many worrying things came up again and I forgot all about it! Meditation also would help I’m sure if I wouldn’t fall asleep every time I’m doing it – lol! 😂

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  13. Very funny and powerful. So much depth to your posts. You hit every subject head on…(or butt on in this case) and I absolutely adore your humor and honesty. Great stuff girl.

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  14. Closure…hmm…I’m still trying to get past the picture you used on this one! LOL! I do agree, a butt’s view is an interesting way to look at things. Butt…I shall have to sit on it for a bit, and get back to you on closure thoughts! 😉

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  15. I’m going to tag your post to my next one tomorrow…! I’ve got a butt of a story brewing! But, first, it is off to work I go 😉

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  16. I hadn’t thought of my bum (that’s butt in English) as being anything other than a situpon before. That and the fact that it is less containable than it was when it resembled two hard boiled eggs in a handkerchief. I will ponder my posterior and wonder if it too has wisdom to offer me given it’s perspective (though it may not thank me for all the years spent rowing – a sport spent whooshing said behind up and down a slide on a seat with two holes in which, on reflection may not have been a kindly thing to inflict). What I do know is that all things do pass, everything changes, nothing stays the same and this part of the journey will reveal it’s purpose one of these days just the same as every other one did. With hindsight 😊

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  17. Pingback: How my butt dictated swimming suit choices – Quaint Revival

  19. You are so creative! As for how to achieve closure, I have to be honest and say I’m not sure. Sometimes it helps me, like the butt in this story, to simply look back and see how things are going without me. Other times, I have to figure out what I really felt and thought about something, and that revelation helps. Still others, it’s simply a matter of time.

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  20. I never knew there was so much wisdom in butts – what a great perspective! Sometimes I open the doors I had previously closed, just to take a peek. Then I have to remind myself that I closed that door and ask a higher power to help me close it again. It to remember what I learned from the past and then to focus on the here and now,

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  21. The butt with the googly eyes is strangely hypnotic, like you can’t quite look away because it’s that odd a sight to see! I think moving forward can be hard to do, especially if you’re prone to overthinking. I guess trying to write things down can help for me sometimes, to eek out the lessons learned and what place it has in my life, then give myself time to fully appreciate it rather than trying to avoid or distract (as this inevitably leads to it cropping up and never being resolved or helpful). Reminding yourself that something can always be there, but just in a smaller part of your brain and life, can also be helpful because it’s more gentle and less forceful, so you can move forward with kindness to yourself and your experiences. x

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    • So sorry! When I responded before I didn’t see your whole post. Now I see all you’re saying. I agree about writing things down. I find when I “journal” (for lack of a better word), I ramble, but then very real thoughts come to the surface and help me see what’s really going on underneath. I have lifetime issues I have to deal with and know they’ll always be there. It can be done, though sometimes it’s not easy.

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  23. Hi Cathi

    I enjoyed reading this.

    When I have a problem it generally ends up in my Morning Pages. Some are solved, some not. Many are recurring, just in another way. I often have to learn a lesson more than once.

    I’ll be sure to give my butt the special attention it deserves.

    Thanks
    Laura

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    • Hi Laura,
      You’re not alone. I often have to learn a lesson more than once, too. Actually, some lessons keep coming up in my life in different forms. I’m trying to recognize what’s driving them (underneath) so I can get past them. Not easy!
      🙂
      Cathi

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