Today I turn 47 years old.  It’s been turning over in my head since I got up this morning. FORTY-SEVEN.

That seems unfathomable.  How did this number sneak up on me so surreptitiously?

When you are young and primed for your life to begin, a number like that can seem a LONG way off.  You have dreams and ambitions as wide as the sky… and SURELY you have all the time in the world to make your conquests.

It’s a completely different viewpoint now.  Suddenly you realize that there’s a deadline to all of these goals.  The finish line seems just as distant, and you’re quickly running out of breath.

Does everyone feel this growing sense of urgency as they get older, or is it just me?

So far I’ve been very fortunate in many ways.  There have been no hospital stays due to physical illness or injury.  I haven’t had a major financial emergency or been homeless.  All of my parents are still alive.  But that cannot last forever, because nothing does.

On the debit side, there have been a lot things about me and the way I think and feel that have held me back in one way or another, keeping me from accomplishing more.  There is a fine line between the “learn to accept myself for who I am” and the “change and improve yourself to become a better you”.  It can be hard to differentiate sometimes.

The answer to this whole line of inquiry is, of course, “Make every moment count”.  That feels like a pretty tall order.  I have to find a way, though.  I may have more years behind me than ahead of me.

Here is to another year!