Rock, Rotate and Recline!

As I advance mentally, (note that I didn’t say physically,) I’m finding far more satisfaction in mental activity than physical. Now I don’t mean to put down the benefits of physical activity. I know that a brisk walk in the morning air, a good game of golf on a nine hole course, a cool swim in the afternoon, and a turn around the dance floor at night are all delightful. I’ve had the best of them all, but for now I’m enjoying mental movement and the new chair I bought this week sort of symbolizes this.

I’d been thinking that my old recliner Lazy Boy chair was not serving me best where it was, opposite the room from the sofa. Facing the sofa, as it would when I have company, it needed to be turned to the corner of the far wall when I was alone and wanted to watch TV. It was a heavy chair and hard to move.

“I need another recliner, Robin,” I said on our Monday outing. “Why?” she asked. “Your chair still looks good.” I said, “Because it lacks one feature that would be most handy. It doesn’t swivel.” She agreed. “Let’s go shopping for one that does,” she said. 

Well, the Lazy Boy store had moved somewhere so we tried Ashley House Furniture where I’d bought the new sofa bed. I didn’t go in but Robin checked it out. “They have a few recliners that rotate but they’re huge, made for men. Comfy though.” 

“Nope,” I said, “I need something smaller.”  Then I remembered someone had told me that Big Lots have recliners that swivel. “Let’s go look,” Robin said. Such a daughter! When she’s with me she seems to be just as enthusiastic as I am about my house. Well, the upshot of all this is that we found just the perfect chair. It’s the same chocolate color as the sofa with leather-like upholstery, sized perfectly to the space. Not only does it rock, rotate and recline but it has a small footstool that rocks with me. And I got it at a big discount because it was a floor model in perfect condition, all assembled and ready to go. 

It tickles me the way so many of my needs these days are met with such ease and economy. I was ready to give away the Lazy Boy chair but Robin had already pushed it out to the patio and set it under the roof’s overhang. Great comfort for my outdoor living room! On these cool mornings it is now my breakfast chair.

As usual, I like to play around with words and the three I chose for the title of this blog have significance beyond the new chair. They illustrate the mental attitudes we of the advancing generation can use to exercise our minds. 

Those of you who have read and loved J. Allen Boone’s books, do you remember Kinship with all Life? Another favorite of mine is his You Are the Adventure. In it he recommends the use of a rocking chair to get into the rhythm of the universe. Great advice! Try a good rocker and see what it will do for you.

Then  there’s the word rotate. Maybe swivel is a better word but in any case the idea is to change your perspective, look in another direction, see another side to the question. Now that advice is priceless too. A great exercise for the mind.

And lastly, the word recline. The word harks back to its original meaning which is to bend backward in a relaxed position. It also means to be supported in this. With a reclined attitude you are forced to look upward. What might you see? I’d say a more mental and spiritual view of things, and in a reclined position you don’t get stiff-necked. You let go somewhat from your stolid opinions. (The word stolid originates from the late 16th century and to the word stultus, meaning foolish. Hmmm.)

Rock, rotate and recline. My new chair lets me do all three. But these three mean so much more than physical activity. They set the mind on a trip filled with adventure. They help us exercise that little word “let.” They send us off to destinations previously unseen and awaiting our arrival. 

Who needs a treadmill, or even a magic carpet? I have a new chair that rocks, rotates and reclines but it takes me to get it going. Now, in my advancing years, that’s my favorite kind of exercise!