I am under the assumption that all adults that pass the “over forty” age bracket take some time to reflect on what they have accomplished in the past and look back with questions and curiosity.
It’s funny… my friend Mike and I have been watching each other age over the past twenty years or so, and we razz each other concerning our apparent thinning of hair. Well, if truth-be-known, its more his than mine. Anyway, he tells me that my forehead is growing faster than his waistline. But, he forgets that I am a bit taller than him and that I can see the top of his head. I know for a fact that if he works outside for any amount of time, that his once protected scalp will now turn scarlet by the day’s end. It’s interesting that when we were younger, we never thought of things like that.
I have been warned, for years now, that time will creep up on me and I will be looking back instead of forward. I guess that time has come to pass.
I have started thinking of health-care issues and political issues and thoughts that I once believed belonged to my parents and their parents. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not spiraling out of control here, I just have come to the conclusion that I am about half way through this process described as the ever-shortening cycle of life.
When I was in grade school, Mrs. Jeffcoat had us figure out how old we would be in the year 2000. Well, when I did the math and I saw that I would be thirty-eight years old, I thought that I would never reach that age. The young mind cannot comprehend that kind of quantum leap. Besides, I thought Mrs. Jeffcoat must have been at least a hundred years old at the time and there was no way I even wanted to live that long… by the way, do you think that Leslie Overterf likes me? And what time does the bell ring for recess?
When we are young, all we want to do is be older. When we get to the place that we thing we are older, we want to look back and see what we could have done when we were younger. What a great paradox we put ourselves through.
We don’t really change that much on the inside through the years. I still feel the same way I did as I did when I was half my age now. That is why I think it is so important that we teach our children well when they are young and try to set the correct examples for them. They will be here soon looking at us in the mirror and will be pondering the same thoughts that we ponder now.
I do strive to rest in the place that I am now and enjoy the time that I do have. Fantasies are wonderful and thoughts of youth are normal, but the events of our daily lives can take over if we do not take the time to find a quiet place… a quiet place for the physical body and for the spiritual soul.
We have all made decisions that changed our lives and we all could have done things differently. That is what sets us apart from other beings. We have a choice. And as we all know, with all choices come the consequences of our decisions.
Shannon R Killman
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