Happy Sunday Everyone:
I turned 50 last week. I said I wasn’t going to write about it, but I can’t help myself. I’m also sitting here in my chair with what I believe to be a pulled groin from dancing last night, I swear this to be true. A friend and I were talking on my way home from work Thursday and he asked (he’s younger), “how does it feel, is it weird?”. He was dead serious, he wanted to know. Truth is, it feels really freaking weird. I found myself washing my hands staring in the mirror, looking at my face, and saying out loud “you’re 50”. As much as I enjoy celebrating birthdays, they are not typically milestone moments for me, I can’t say that about 50. New Years is made for resolutions, 50 is made for reflections.
I think it’s fair to say the quality of your life is reflective of the decisions you’ve made throughout it. A fair question is what does “quality” mean? It’s both a universal and personal question. For me, the quality of my life is based on the sum total of the relationships I have. The people I get to walk through this life with. One of my all-time favorite quotes, which I’ve said many of times in these thoughts is “you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with”-Jim Rohn. I’d take it a step further and say the quality of your life is based on the sum total of the people you’ve chosen to walk through life with. At 50, I have a high tolerance for the people who fit into the add section of the quality of my life, and a very low tolerance for the people who subtract from the quality of my life.
I’ve always felt like a kid. I don’t feel like a kid at 50. Hard for me to explain this one but I want to be more intentional for owning the decisions I’ve made in my life, many of which are good decisions. I’ve felt like in the past if I celebrated a win too much, I was going to jinx it. If something was going right, my head space would turn it into it’s going to go wrong. It’s the “yeah, but…..”. What’s the point of being a doubter, a pessimist, an Eeyore in this life? Why am I figuring this out at 50? I’m just glad I’m figuring it out. It’s unattractive to not celebrate life. It’s stupid to not celebrate life. Kim told me the other day to “own it”. Meaning, own the life I’ve created, for better and for worse (although she meant for the better).
Now that I’m on the other side of this hump (with a pulled a groin), I’m more clear than I’ve ever been to surround myself with people who breath life into me, and to celebrate this life daily. Sooner or later we’re all going to die. I say this daily, not to be morbid, but as a constant reminder to prioritize where and who I’m spending my days with.
Have a great rest of your Sunday!