Forty...what does this number signify. Four bundles of 10. Two, twenty dollar bills. Half your life!? The National Center for Health Statistics says that one can expect to live to about 80. So is 40 the new "midlife" number? Could I really have a midlife crisis on my hand? How much more radical could my life become? I already quit my job! I already sold our home! I already bought myself a large flat screen TV! The thought of it can really scare me if there really is such a thing as Midlife Crisis. I googled Midlife Crisis and this is what Dr. Carl Jung, a psychologist, said:
"It is a normal part of the maturing process. Most people will experience some form of emotional transition during that time of life. A transition that might cause you to take stock in where you are in life and make some needed adjustments to the way you live your life."
Maybe the Romans knew of a bigger, maybe even, Divine significance of the number forty. They wrote the number "XL". Today if one sees XL they don't think of a number but of something Extra Large. Maybe the Romans knew that once you hit forty it was an Extra Large moment or event in ones life.
I woke up this morning and didn't feel any different than most days. Same aches and pains. Same stiffness in the bones. At this point in my life, my heart has already beat a staggering 1.5 billion times and it still feels fine. So I'm beginning to see that this "midlife crisis" really only happens between your ears. Who cares that today I have less hair on my head but more scattered throughout my body. Who cares that there are white hairs sprouting up like weeds. So I put on a little extra weight. Who cares that I may have to check the survey box that says: 40 and above. I can live with that because today, I still feel like I'm only 21. Young and full of energy. The more I think of it the Romans are right. Life at Forty is Extra Large and I intend to live it up LARGE!!!
What better place than to start right here on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee.
I'll end today's blog with a thought from Bernard Baruch, American Economist:
"To me, old age is always fifteen years older than I am"
1 comment:
May you have a Happy Birthday and Many More!!
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