I’m ripping off Mr. Buffett, but so what – I’m going to be 40 next weekend. Everybody keeps telling me I’m “just a baby”. I’m not really freaking out about it and I certainly know I’m not the first person to cross this threshold. But, it is one of those scenic spots where you need to pull over and look out.
Looking back over the halfway point, here’s a few of my thoughts or what I consider “facts” of life. Most of this has probably been said many times, but it’s a first for me.
- One day, either my wife or I will go to bed at night without the other lying beside them. This disturbs me.
- Things that I worried, yelled and cried about 10 years ago are long forgotten - some of the people involved have even passed away. Nothing REALLY matters.
- To oppose the above, family and friends are the only thing that really matter.
- I read an obituary about a sailor that was married. It said he believed in trying every day to be a better husband. After reading that, I do my best to follow in his footsteps.
- We are only allowed a set number of sunsets. Try and catch every one.
- All the stuff you accumulate during your life turns into crap when you die. It’s just stuff your relatives have to sort through, fight over and get rid of. There’s no point in hording a bunch of things. I don’t understand “collecting” anything.
- Try to excercise and stay flexible/mobile. There’s no point living to be 90 if you can’t get out of a chair or walk to the end of a dock.
- Floss and take care of your teeth or when you get to be 60 they will all be yanked out.
- After living with cats for quite awhile, I know that animals not only have the ability to feel and give love, they have their own personalities. They can be happy, sad and sometimes bitchy. I’ll never hunt again.
- Smoking WILL shorten your life and reward you with a miserable, painful death. I think there have been very few, if any, smokers that died peacefully in their sleep of old age.
- Religion and politics are things you believe in – not a cold hard fact.
- We will die one day. I always wonder when, how, and who will be there. It’s an inescapable moment in life – the only thing you can count on. This also disturbs me.
- In those final moments, I can only hope that I’ll have no regrets – and this philosophy, I think, sums up my time on the planet.
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Don’t talk about 40 being the half-way mark! I’m 54 and hoping I haven’t reached half way yet. Keep the sun in your face and the wind at your back,,,and I’ll see you on the next wave!! (Did you have enough wind to blow out all those candles?)