Tick tock, tick tock
Today is my birthday. Number 68.
Hate the number. It seems to mark my transition from young-old to old-old.
I know that “you’re only as old as you feel,” and I don’t feel that old. But still, as the tally goes up year by year, in the back of my mind a ticking clock gets louder. Call it the Captain Hook effect.
But let’s not go down that road. I’m feeling good, back in the groove of running 6 miles two or three times a week, enjoying retirement. There are clouds on the horizon, but life is good.
Still, the ticking clock suggests that I should have learned something profound in 68 years. In September I told you how I’m a late bloomer.
I spent way too many years caring about what others thought instead listening to my heart.
Haven't completely overcome that. I was originally going to post a much racier X-rated version of this self-portrait. (And in January finally did. See below.)
Hopefully you can avoid making the same mistake.
By way of encouragement, here are four things I’ve come to believe. None are original, but all are valuable to me. I hope they are to you.
- You can’t control what happens to you, you can only control how you respond to it.
- The world (and your city, your street, your life) is filled with beauty…and ugliness. Face it with courage and optimism (see #1). You really do see what you expect to see, or as Anais Nin puts it: “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” Choose to see beauty.
- Time and again I’ve found my son’s favorite expression to be helpful: It is what it is. (See #1, then #2)
- Keep moving. It’s great to be moving forward, but understand that sometimes—inevitably—you’ll stumble and fall back. We all do. Keep moving anyway.
That’s all I got, folks. Enjoy the end of 2014, the holiday season, and the coming of a new year. I invite you to share my New Year’s resolutions:
Be kind
Be generous
Be happy
[ An earlier version of this appeared as the December Piece of My Mind newsletter. To receive future issues of POMM, subscribe here. ]
UPDATE January 10, 2015
