Recently, I completed another trip around the sun (thank you Lori, for that birthday analogy). Throughout the day, the Beatle’s song, “When I’m 64” kept playing in my head because, well, I turned 64! I love the catchy little tune, but I must say the lyrics make us 64-year-olds sound like we’re ready for the nursing home. Not true! But I digress.

      If you’re like me, birthdays bring about opportunities to look in the mirror and assess where you are in life and where you may be going. This year, that assessment for me began with, “how did I get here?”  You see, we never think about growing old when we’re young. And we don’t think about holding onto youth until we see it beginning to slip away.  Through my attempts to hold onto youth, I learned that it doesn’t come in a jar – no matter how much you pay for it. And it probably doesn’t come back after a plastic surgeon nips and tucks, although I can’t speak from experience on that one.

      No, I believe youth radiates from inside; it is a state of mind. I know 70- and 80-year-olds who are as active and lively as 30- and 40-year-olds and sadly, I know some younger folks who moan and groan about their aches and convalesce all day instead of getting out and moving. True, our bodies shift and change as we age, and like automobiles, they show signs of wear and tear. So, we may not be as spry on the tennis court or able (or willing!) to run a marathon, but there are still endless things we can do. And I, for one, choose to set my mind on those things. It’s much more uplifting and motivating to wrap my hope around the word, “can” as opposed to letting the word, “can’t” pull me under.

      Words are powerful and can change our brain chemistry. Test this theory right now. Say, “I can” and see how you feel. Then say the opposite and again, see what shifts in your mind and body. Your “64” and beyond, and how you live it is a choice. You can focus on your limitations, or you can begin a bucket list of all you want to experience in your “can do” state of mind.

      It is easy to look back and reminisce about how we looked and how agile we may have been in our youth. But there’s a powerful biblical lesson about looking back. Lot’s wife looked back when she and Lot were fleeing Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:26) and she turned into a pillar of salt. I’m no bible scholar but I interpret this story to mean that God doesn’t want us to look back at what we’re leaving or what we have left. I think the message here is to look forward or look ahead to the new adventures he sets before us. I’m going to start on that bucket list – how about you? 

PS – Since writing this blog, I finished my bucket list, and it was a fun and energizing exercise. I’m ready to begin knocking out some bucket list items. I’d love to hear about what is on your list!