Tuesday, September 9, 2008

I Grow Old, I Grow Old, I'll Wear the Bottoms of My Trousers Rolled-T.S. Eliot

I awoke one morning last week (I make it a point to do this daily) and clicked the CNN tab on my Mac Book Air to see that John McCain had selected Sarah Palin as his running mate. Like most of us, I had never heard of the Honorable Governor of Alaska, so I thought I would read her bio. She's forty f...ing four years old! WTF! Barak Obama is 47! Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates are supposed to old, fossils, like Ronald Reagan and Sen. McCain. I turned 46 in July! I doubt that anyone in pro sports is my age other than golfers and lets be honest, how hard is it to walk around swinging a stick? It's not like they are covering crazy fast wide receivers or hitting 100mph fastballs. In my younger days I thought that by the time I reached this age I would have been more successful, in the traditional sense.
I was admiring the shape of my skull in the elevator mirrors later that morning when I noticed the rest of my reflection in the mirrors....I look like a bag of ass. What's left of my hair is grey, I'm growing moobs, flabby mid section, the whole nine pitiful yards. What the hell happened to me? The last time I thought of comparative age I was young, sort of good looking and full of piss and vinegar. Bulletproof! Pro athletes and politicians were all much older than me. Did I loose focus or quit caring? I'll tell you what happened; I raised a family, worked hard, volunteered, formed lifelong friendships, great times, bad times, suffered a loss that is impossible to describe fully, that's what happened. But I don't mind, no, I don't mind at all not being successful on "paper". Anyone that survives their teenage and young adult years and manages to tread their way through work, marriage, children, etc is probably a little worse for the wear! Sure, the Sarah Palins' of the world are over achievers and God bless them, we need them, but the rest of us should take comfort in the "win's" we can experience everyday. A happy child, a job they enjoy, loyal friends, loving family and a sense of well being. Having a purpose in life is what it's all about! Someone much wiser than I said its the journey, not the destimation that makes all the difference. I'm a step slower and showing my age, but I feel 16 inside. My face may become a map of the world, but my soul will still be at recess, swinging on the monkey bars!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

yes, yes,

swinging on the monkey bars, still at recess.

the secret to life. never lose it.