I made it through another trip around the sun. Yes, I am approaching (not there) that age when I am not excited about adding a digit, but I am glad to make it another year – not everyone did.
Reality Setting In
Just when the dad bod was coming into style and finding many devotees, I creakily slid into the grandpa bod. Earlier this year, I joined a gym and engaged a personal trainer in hopes of getting jacked and ripped. As I struggled to lift the weights that looked like a tiny bundle of kindling, my trainer commented that she enjoyed working with people my age looking to slow down their inevitable degradation.
I have arrived at the age where I am inappropriate for a position. I was meeting with an elder at my church, and the subject of replacing a departing elder came up. Although I am the same age as the elder, I immediately said the church needs a younger replacement. My preemptive refusal saves them (and me) the embarrassment of rejection on other obvious grounds.
Crucially, a sober assessment suggests church leadership should approximate its membership and not the age of congressional leaders. Hopefully, our congregation is smarter than the political parties.
But do not think I am putting myself out to pasture. I am merely on a hiatus until I am old enough to run for President in 15 years.
Rule of Twenty
“They” say when you reach 60, you only have 20 good trips, Christmases, etc. left; you should take that bucket list trip and make a point to celebrate those holidays with loved ones. The advice is timeless, but we do not appreciate it until fewer opportunities remain.
You think the time will not come, but it does, even to the best of us. When I asked my friend “Bob,” who has been all over the world, where his next big trip was, he responded, “to the Great Lakes.” The destination underwhelmed me, and he added that it was as far as he wanted to go anymore. He could go further but no longer desired to. His words did not spark an internal crisis but a call for intentionality.
What can my younger readers take away from this rule? Perhaps knowing this day will come (if you are fortunate) may not cause a wholesale change. Still, it may inspire slightly more appreciation for your time, and maybe you will invest it a little more carefully and appreciate each day’s experience a little more.
Without repeating them, last year’s reflections on gratitude and avoiding regret bear reviewing here.
Picture Story
Last year’s counsel concerning the importance of funeral slide shows over eulogies endures. The show will be about people and not things. Besides a cameo appearance, the idols we spend an inordinate amount of time chasing, such as jobs, houses, cars, and investments, are not featured. Not only can you not take them with you, but they will not even come to your funeral.
I continue to curate the pictures on the shelves appearing in the background of my videos. There are no idyllic landscapes unless a loved one is in it. I am replacing portraits with pictures of me with the person where I can. Remarkably, I did not have one picture with my dear friend, Eric, whom I wrote about after he passed away last year. I did not perpetuate the oversight when his youngest son visited Dallas yesterday.
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Time is much like money; the more you have, the more you waste; the less you have, the more careful you are. I may be late to the party, but I am more discriminating in how and where I spend my diminishing resources. Join me.