The End of the 50's

Good grief!  Could it be that you are on the verge of the final lap for the 50's?  Yes my dear you are that old.  Being old isn't for sissies but you knew that when you were a teen angel. 

Getting old isn't all it's cranked-up to be from where I sit.  Once you get into the 60's the body parts start to get out of wack.   You can feel your arteries and internal plumbing start to clog.  Country music is so much more relevant.  You spend more time in the porcelain room when no one else is around.  Your kids don't recognize your voice let alone listen to you.  Your hair falls out, your gums and your butt drop and flatulence follows you around like a friendly dog.  If you thought the 50's was difficult transition, the 60's will keep you up at night.  Cormac McCarthy wrote, "One of the things you realize about getting older is that not everybody is going to get older with you". 60 is still a stigma of being old and the discounts just aren't that great.

Many of the baby-boomers talk about how great the 50's and 60's were.  They must mean the time period although I'm not sure if I believe that those two decades were so wonderful.  My sense is that the further away you get from something, and perhaps someone, the better and better it or she/ he looks.  Oh, wow, I remember the 50's.  But say hey Willie, you aren't out of the 50's yet!

As you enter the last lap of being 50 something you need to squeeze the juice out of this part of your life like it was a sweet orange.  Not necessarily crazy stuff but perhaps a new or adjusted approach to the way you live your life.    Given my four year and seven-day head start on you I offer these lessons for the last days of being 59.  Although these ramble a bit perhaps there is some wisdom you can extract or translate from what follows.

First, thank God each morning and night for another day and for all you have been given.  St. Ignatius will tell you that you are fortunate that God hasn't turned his head and sent you to another world.  God does love you.  Ask Him for grace and knowledge so that you might better love and serve him.

Second, live each day as if it's the last day you have.  No, no, no, that doesn't mean pig out on food, soaps, pills, or Lifetime movies.  Treat everyone you encounter as if it were the last time you were seeing them.  Share the generosity of spirit that is within you with family, friends, and strangers--just not too strange strangers.  Remember, we don't know the time or the hour......and "This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time", from the Fight Club.

Third, talk and listen to the people you enjoy and care about.  Everyone has a story to tell or an idea to share.  Stewart O'Nan wrote, "Lately it seems there are mysteries everywhere as if you've only just opened your eyes".

Fourth,  take your health more seriously than before.  Make believe you have health problems and err on the side of being too thorough and cautious.  Get checked by real doctors, exercise, give up something you love for Lent, think healthy, and meditate.

Fifth,  celebrate the small joys in your life, and in the lives of your family.  Give people and yourself a reason to smile at the small things that go well.  Sully once said, "Happiness is a place-saver between tragedies".

Sixth, take time out for yourself and do something every so often that means a great deal to you.  Decide what you really like to do that you don't have time to do anymore--and do it.  No, it doesn't mean dressing-up farm animals, but rather the small passions of your life that you never have time for.

Seventh,  keep your wits no matter how crazy the environment is.  I worked with a guy named Daniel Martin from Northern Ireland.  He once said, "My life is not this steeply sloping hour in which you see me hurrying".

Eight, love the love of your life in new and different ways.  Love and marriage blossoms if you let it the relationship express itself.  St. Francis said, although not necessarily about marriage, "It is in giving that we receive".  It's a good bit like religion, fishing and AA, it works if you work it.

Nine, be open to the ideas and opinions of others but don't give up who you really are.  Larry Brown wrote that Barlow, in "Big, Bad, Love",.."couldn't get anyone to do what he wanted but at least he knew what he wanted".  The Lord's Prayer, each morning and night, reminds me that "Thy will be done".

Finally, 59  is a nice number and you don't look a day over 43, so take time and enjoy this last year of the 50's.   The world and my life is a far, far better place with you in it.  Keep-on keepin-on!