Over the weekend I struggled trying to think of something to blog about. Nothing particularly special rose to the surface of my brain. I did, however, find myself thinking about the convergence of a couple of things in my life. Maybe saying a few words about them will give you something to think about. After having two relatives leave this world, both having been given a good number of years (late seventies and early eighties - of course we'd all like more), I found myself reflecting on the fact that I'm not that far away from that age bracket - at least not like I used to be. That's not frightening or even a big deal to me. I've said on many occasions that if I don't get another day of life after this one, I've been given more than I deserve and I give nothing but thanksgiving to God for every day. Still - the other converging element is the increasing, self-imposed, focus on aging. I really don't feel old and I truly believe that 57 is just a number. So why do I find myself saying things like, "At my age..." or "I'm not as young as I used to be..." or "The older I get..."? A ten year old could say any of these. Am I looking for an excuse, trying to explain something, or just giving in to the inevitable? I guess they could be the preface to some sage advice or pearl of wisdom. Usually it's like my comment about the above picture. "The older I get, the more I like sweat shirts in the winter and T-shirts in the summer." Is that really an aging thing, or does maturity cause is to not care so much about being fashion conscious or about what others think? I don't know. I do know that God made me, blessed me with great health and fifty-seven years, and I need to glorify Him with my body which belongs to Him. I don't want to use His blessing to me as an excuse to give up, give in, or give out. I'm not big into New Year's resolutions, but I am big into being real about pleasing my Father. So I'm committing to making a conscious effort to quit talking myself into being old and to limiting what I can or should do because of how many birthdays I've had. I'm not sure what that means exactly, but I will begin by not using the "age" prefaces to things I say - unless I need to prove that I wasn't "born yesterday."
Monday, January 19, 2009
The Root of Ages
Over the weekend I struggled trying to think of something to blog about. Nothing particularly special rose to the surface of my brain. I did, however, find myself thinking about the convergence of a couple of things in my life. Maybe saying a few words about them will give you something to think about. After having two relatives leave this world, both having been given a good number of years (late seventies and early eighties - of course we'd all like more), I found myself reflecting on the fact that I'm not that far away from that age bracket - at least not like I used to be. That's not frightening or even a big deal to me. I've said on many occasions that if I don't get another day of life after this one, I've been given more than I deserve and I give nothing but thanksgiving to God for every day. Still - the other converging element is the increasing, self-imposed, focus on aging. I really don't feel old and I truly believe that 57 is just a number. So why do I find myself saying things like, "At my age..." or "I'm not as young as I used to be..." or "The older I get..."? A ten year old could say any of these. Am I looking for an excuse, trying to explain something, or just giving in to the inevitable? I guess they could be the preface to some sage advice or pearl of wisdom. Usually it's like my comment about the above picture. "The older I get, the more I like sweat shirts in the winter and T-shirts in the summer." Is that really an aging thing, or does maturity cause is to not care so much about being fashion conscious or about what others think? I don't know. I do know that God made me, blessed me with great health and fifty-seven years, and I need to glorify Him with my body which belongs to Him. I don't want to use His blessing to me as an excuse to give up, give in, or give out. I'm not big into New Year's resolutions, but I am big into being real about pleasing my Father. So I'm committing to making a conscious effort to quit talking myself into being old and to limiting what I can or should do because of how many birthdays I've had. I'm not sure what that means exactly, but I will begin by not using the "age" prefaces to things I say - unless I need to prove that I wasn't "born yesterday."
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