Last week I wrote about aging. My aging.
This week I continue writing and aging and writing about aging. Our aging.
My 60th birthday was nice. Thanks for all the kind cards and comments. Thanks to my family for time together.
My mind, however, continues thinking about the decades I’ve visited as I wonder how many more years wait.
Decades begin and end in a hurry. I’m surprised at how quickly I turned 60.
Many difficult days and nights and years have strolled slowly. Seasons of darkness seemed like being stuck in long lines with no end in sight. But the overall adventure has, for me, felt like a brief ride through town.
How about you? How has your journey scared you, wounded you, thrilled you, transformed you? How have circumstances changed your beliefs and behavior? Do you tend to avoid painful issues or attack them? Do you have people on your life to ask deep questions and speak encouraging words?
You might not be 60. But we are all traveling during these strange times. Fear stares us in the face. Uncertainty covers our minds. We pay bills, and feel the nerves shifting to an anxious mood. We watch the news—or maybe we’ve decided to not dare watch. We watch a baseball game and wonder how long this sport or any sport will still be available as a method of getting-the-mind-off-the-worry.
During this crisis while aging, I still believe peace shouldn’t depend on circumstances. I believe God is larger and stronger and wider that our news reports, our moods, our retirement plans, and our bank accounts. I believe hope is near, is within, is eternal.
As you are aging, consider writing yourself a card today. Remind yourself of a deeper hope, of a positive news story. Suggest a few steps to take to resist being controlled by those things out of your control. Visit the wonder, even on a day like today.
I just turned in a book for Tyndale called, IF YOU’RE NOT DEAD, YOU’RE NOT DONE! about positive, purposeful, productive aging. It comes out next fall, so will send you a review copy, old man. (Says, the guy who’s 68!)