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Cut the Mustard

Cut the Mustard

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Cut the Mustard-mustard flowerYears ago, Ernest Tubb and Red Foley sang “Too Old to Cut the Mustard.” They gave people a good laugh about aging. You can read the song lyrics here.

Young people often think senior adults are as old as the hills or over the hill. However, many older people still cut the mustard. Many young people cannot. Age does not always make a difference.

Cut the mustard means to work well.    

 People do what needs to be done. They do what is:

  • Expected
  • Required

They:

  • Work with energy and enthusiasm
  • Successfully accomplish their task

Cut the mustard applies to things as well as people.

People want what they use to:

  • Work well
  • Keep working

However, like people, things do not always work as they should.

  • Computers crash.
  • Cars run out of gas.
  • Stoves fail to cook.

Several guesses about how this expression began include the:

  • Hard work required to cut mustard plants
  • Difficulty in cutting tiny mustard seeds
  • Need to cut (dilute) mustard with vinegar to create a good taste

Others ideas have nothing to do with mustard.

However the expression began, it reminds everyone to do their best. Each day offers the opportunity to:

“[The righteous] will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green” (Psalm 92:14 NIV).

Thanks to Emily Akin for the suggestion. Photo courtesy of Pixabay. 

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Senior Moment

Senior Moment

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Senior Moment--child tying string around an adult's fingerReady to sing, I stood before the crowd in my aunt’s church. However, the first words out of my mouth were, “I forgot.” At three-years-old, I had a senior moment.

Actually, I had a bad case of stage fright. That fear made me pull my skirt to my mouth and forget the words of my song.

A senior moment means we forget something or make a silly mistake.

As senior (older) adults entering our golden years, we may:

  • Forget where we put our glasses and then find them on top of our head
  • File something in a safe place and forget where that safe place is
  • Fail to remember a good friend’s name
  • Tie a string around our finger to help us remember but forget why we tied the string

 As we age, we forget more often.

We can get upset about those egg-on-our-face moments, or we can laugh.

Like the people at my aunt’s church, most of us laugh. However, we want to laugh with, not at, one another. Never make fun of someone with memory problems.

Any of us can have a senior moment.

In addition to age, we forget because of:

  • Fear
  • Too much on our minds
  • Excitement
  • Illness or medication
  • Accidents

From seniors in high school to senior adults, we forget. Why not accept that fact and enjoy every moment?

“Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (Psalm 103:2 NIV).

Thanks to Carole Fite for the suggestion and to Karen Atwood for the photo.

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My Get Up and Go Has Got Up and Went

My Get Up and Go Has Got Up and Went

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My Get Up and Go Has Got Up and Went-path through bambooSome days I feel like my get up and go has got up and went.

(I know, English teachers – another expression with poor grammar.) My family said, “My get up and go got up and went.” I have also heard, “My get up and go has got up and gone.”

However I say it, I mean I have:

  • No energy
  • Little strength
  • No desire to do anything

I don’t want to:

  • Work
  • Play
  • Talk
  • Move

I have run out of steam and feel as old as the hills.

My get up and go has got up and went often refers to problems of old age.

We hear that in Pete Seeger’s fun song. It mentions the need for:

  • Glasses
  • False teeth
  • Hearing aids

Why not laugh and enjoy each day and each life stage?

I’m thankful my energy doesn’t disappear too often. Yet, I can be thankful for those times. They remind me to:

  • Slow down.
  • Rest.
  • Enjoy the moment.
  • Count my blessings.
  • Remember good times.
  • Stay quiet and peaceful.
  • Prepare for the days ahead.

Childhood, teen, young adult, middle age, or golden years, why not enjoy them all?

“God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going” (2 Corinthians 4:9).

Thanks to Carole Fite for the suggestion.

Do you have an expression you want explained or a thought about this one? If so, please comment below.

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As Old as the Hills

As Old as the Hills

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As Old as the Hills 1Do you ever feel as old as the hills? It is possible whether we are 18 or 80.

The hills of Kentucky have existed longer than any of us have lived. So have most hills and mountains. That does not stop us from saying people or possessions are as old as the hills.

• Those of us who hate to shop wear clothes as old as the hills.
• When tired, we feel as old as the hills.
• We describe well-worn furniture as old as the hills.

Our society values youth. Many people think older adults are over the hill.

They don’t understand the benefits that come with age.

• Years of experience
• Wisdom from life lessons
• Appreciation for how fast time passes

Regardless of how old we are or how old we feel, let’s give thanks for:

• Every age
• The beauty of the hills around us
• The one who created all

“Were you born before the hills were made?” (Job 15:7 NIV).

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Over the Hill

Over the Hill

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Over the Hill“You’re not over the hill yet, but my mom just went over the hill.” Those words came from an elementary-age girl whose mother had just celebrated her 35th birthday. The mother laughed. She remembered thinking the same thing about her mother at that age.

Young people often believe middle-age and older adults are over the hill.

They think they have reached their peak in life. In their opinion, anyone 35 or older:

  • Is out of touch with the latest fads, language, and styles
  • Stops having fun
  • Sets no more worthwhile goals
  • Loses their spirit of adventure

Wrong! The fun just begins, if we relax and enjoy the journey.

  • The need to impress, to fit in with the cool crowd, and to prove ourselves diminishes.
  • We learn to enjoy the moment for what it is, not what we wish.
  • That freedom exhilarates, and the future looks promising.

As Robert Browning said:

Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith ‘A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!’”

“I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live” (Psalm 104:33 NIV).

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