A colleague recently asked me if I was looking forward to my birthday? Honestly, it made me stop for a second. My response was something along the lines of “sure, it will be a day just like any other day”. The truth is I suppose I am not quite as excited about this birthday, even though “fifty” has a pretty nice ring to it. I remember being mush more excited about other milestone birthdays in my life, like 18, 30 and even 40. Why do you suppose some of us resist telling our age or embracing our age as we get older? I know for me it is not that I feel old, but perhaps just the opposite, I feel very young and the reality of a number telling me perhaps otherwise is a tough pill to swallow. Every 365 days we are just that much closer to the end of our experience here, and while there seems to be plenty of bitching and moaning along the way, it is pretty dang good to be alive, and living such a charmed life. However, there never seems to be quite enough time. I often seem to be running from one thing to next, often a few minutes late to important meetings. Sometimes having to cancel one activity for another. Time can be such a ball and chain. The solution then must be to live as fully as possible. To celebrate family and friends, and spending as much time as possible doing the things that make us feel most alive, whether that be working, needle point, jumping off cliffs, or just fishing in a pond.
I am lucky to say that I have a wife I adore, I love my job, and enjoy my colleagues, as well as the vast majority of clients we have been blessed to serve. And over the years I have relished many travel and recreational opportunities to boot!
Time past has been well spent, for it has made me who I am today, time looking forward is full of anticipation, with the hopes of being a better human, but time present is the only thing of real value, quite simply because it is the only time that is real. For me time is my enemy and my friend all at the same time. And I don’t think that will change any time soon!
