The Older I Get...

Recently a local business posted a humourous sign that read, “The older I get, the better I was.”  I chuckled the first time I read it and thought about how it did express a certain reality.  But after further reflection, I decided that it wasn’t true for me.  If I’m honest, I would have to say that the older I get as I travel my country mile, the better I get.

I can say this because I like the age I am now, the things I’ve learned, and the many dreams and ambitions I still have.  I wonder sometimes if that makes me different from others who might say that their best years are behind them and there is little left to look forward to.  Perhaps I just march to the beat of a different drum and I now hear that beat louder and more clearly than I ever did.  Perhaps it’s my hearing that’s improving as I age.

I find that the older I get, the more I want to learn.  I’d happily go back to school to learn another skill and, if things line up right, I may just do that again one of these years.  I can’t imagine ever fully retiring, although I may change my primary occupation and choose a different pace than I have now.

Perhaps I’m finally reaping a little of that self-confidence that we’re said to gain as we grow older and becoming less concerned about what others think.  Now I’m finally more interested in what I think and what God thinks of who I am.   I’m finding it easier to give others a little grace and I hope there are some in this world that can do the same for me.  But, if there aren’t, that’s okay, because I can do it for me now.

In my youth, which I define as a significant portion of my life thus far, I was too busy keeping up with the rest of the world, not thinking enough for myself, and not placing enough value on the thoughts and opinions that I did have.  All that seemed so complicated then, and so natural and easy now. 

Now, it’s easier to value my thoughts as gifts from the God who created me with the ability to think.  They may be very different thoughts from those of other people, but I am coming to understand that if God wanted me to think their way, He’d have seen to it that I did.  Since He didn’t, I can only assume that there is value to the thought process He gave me.

All of this to say that I like where my life has taken me thus far and I respect the process it took to get here.  Some parts of that were very hard and I wouldn’t care to repeat them, although I can see they were necessary.  Some parts are likely to be difficult in the future and I’m not looking forward to them.  Hopefully, the older I get, the wiser I’ll be and I’ll be able to let God see me through.  And part of that wisdom will be to focus on the present, live fully in the moment, and leave the future exactly where it is … not here yet.

How do you feel about getting older and the changes that may bring?  I'd love to chat with you about it.  I invite you to leave a comment.