Friday, June 25, 2010

Aging: Part I

The Summer Solstice was this Monday here in Northern Hemisphere. It is the longest day of the year in terms of the time between sunrise and sunset. It is a time of year when the weather warms and we all hope for bright, sunny days. The weather will get warmer these next couple months but the days immediately are already getting shorter.

In just a few months I will be 60 years old. Largely, my days and my life are warm. I like that. I would like to think I am in the summer of my life. Maybe I’m not. Depending on what a person reads, an American male has an average life expectancy of about 75 years. That would mean my life is 80% complete. It is startling to think of it that way. I’m 4/5 of the way to the end of the road. That is a sobering thought.

If a person’s life was the calendar you can think of your life span as being in some month of the year. The day you are born is January 1. If you are 18 years old you are in March with lots of calendar ahead of you. If you are 30 years old you life is in the last week of May. If you are 45 you are in the first week of August. At 60 I am in the third week of October. Again, that is a startling thought to me because I think of myself as being in the summer of my life. I need to recognize that I’m not; I am likely in the last season of my life. My days and my life are warm but as the summer solstice passes this year and the weather improves I am entering the winter of my life.

In this winter of my life I resolve to embrace each day with an active mind, a generous heart, and a strong spirit.

It is the weekend. Please be good. Drive your cars carefully. Ride with people who drive carefully. Treat yourself with respect. Spend time with people who treat you with respect. Treat other people with respect. Talk nice to yourself; you deserve it. I look forward to hearing from you or seeing you. Keep yourself whole physically and emotionally.

P

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