Thursday Thermals - March 21, 2013

Ready or not, here comes 60!

I've given some considerable thought to this impending transition over the past year, some of it has been rather melancholy (regrets, I've had a few...) but now as the last days are spiralling through the hourglass of a decade, it's time to get a grip. Whether I want it or not, in just 14 days I will leave my fifties behind. Like so many before me have wondered, I too wonder how I got here -- so fast!

Time is such a contrary companion. When I want it to go fast, it crawls. When I want it to slow down, it slams into hyperdrive, and it never stands still no matter how much I plead. So 60 will come right on schedule, of this I am sure. While it is an uncomfortable fact of life that many more years lie behind me than ahead of me, what those coming years will bring me, the details of what 60 and beyond hold for me, is a mystery.

I have learned that there are really only two reasons for doing anything -- love and fear. There's nothing wrong with fear, a healthy, rational fear of real things. The biggest, scariest real thing for me now is future health. It's not just a fly in the ointment, but often seems more on the scale of a velociraptor. My body has already betrayed me in small but undeniable, occasionally embarrassing, ways. So you won't find me mountain climbing, roller blading, snake charming, bungee jumping, or even doing something so risky as drinking a full glass of water before a half hour car ride. You will find me working out four times a week (Check this out: Four workouts better) and maintaining a very healthy diet. You will also find me in the company of the people I love, doing the things I love, in the places I love, and grateful for the love and life I am so privileged to experience.

Something else I've learned: life is not about perfection. It took some fifty years for this avowed perfectionist to learn this one, and I'm sure refresher courses will always be a part of my life. Life is about doing the best I can, enjoying each day as it comes. And at the end of the day, it's about being content with what I have done and what I have not done, so that I can look forward to a new day, new joys, new possibilities.

Easy? I doubt it. More likely it will be some of the hardest work I've ever done. So be it.
Get ready to upend the hourglass...
Here comes 60!