Today is the day I switch boxes. Okay, let me explain. Think about the last survey you filled out. You know…the ones where they ask for an age range. I don’t really know any of them except for the one that says (35-44). That has been MY box to check for 9 years. Today I can no longer check that box.
I know it is inconsequential in the course of life. I do know that. But it turns my thoughts toward the brevity of life. Our days are numbered. James 4:14 says whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
As we grow older there are some questions most of us ask. Things like: Am I accomplishing anything of true value with my days? How important is physical beauty, anyway? Am I a wiser person today than I was 25 years ago?
I am trying to decide how transparent I should be. Okay, this is what I will say. These questions, along with watching my children grow up so quickly, have weighed heavily on me at times. Throw the hormonal issues in there (I read that the 40s can be compared to adolescence in how much the body is changing)…and, well, there have been some dark days. The only reason I share this is because I truly wish someone would have told me how emotionally charged the 40s would be. And just how much life would change. How much my body would change. And perhaps I am the only one who feels like this. I really don’t know.
I do know, however, that when my focus is on what isn’t going right in my life, what is changing in my life….that is when the dark moments come. When I turn my focus in the direction of others I don’t have time to think about these things. It is all a growing and learning process. But, according to my mom, I am half-way through it today! She tells me the 50s are a lot better! I hope so, but I am in no hurry to find out…
Once, very long ago, I was walking through a mall. A plaque caught my eye. I don’t buy a lot of plaques, but I did buy this one. It said “Don’t regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many.” It has helped me keep perspective for many years about this growing older thing. It is a privilege to be alive…and, I, for one, am grateful for that privilege.