What, I'm How Close to 80?

What, I’m How Far From  80?

Talking with a friend at our gym the other day.

He said to me, “Rick, I’m 75 years old, that means 80 is just five years away.”

I turn 66 on Sunday. How in the Hell did I get to 66?

I’m not the best mathematician, but I did some adding and realized that I’m only 14 years from being 80.

That’s a perspective changer, my friends.

I’m not trying to be one of those people who moan and groan about age.

Growing older is better than the alternative, which is death.

But still, there’s a reality check that follows the realization.

When you’re in your 30s, 40s, and 50s, 80 is a long way away, or so it seems.

Perspective is a funny thing.

Why do I work so hard, still?

Perhaps it’s time for another realignment?

As I grow older, I have this feeling that I need to keep working, when in reality, I need to stay active, alert, and adventurous. That doesn’t mean working at a job.

I know that those old-timers in biblical days lived significantly longer than we do today.

I attribute that to the fact that adult diapers had not yet been created and there was no Medicare (kidding).

Oh, and for the record, I am not using adult diapers….yet.

But Moses, Abraham, and Noah all did their best “work” in their elder years.

God chose to call them to leave what they were doing and take on the biggest tasks of their lives, when they were much older than 80.

As I sit here sipping my Mushroom coffee, getting ready to blend up a protein shake, and head to the gym for a workout, I can’t help but think it’s time for a new adventure.

Maybe it’s time to leave some of the old behind and find something new in my old?

I did this same soul searching in my 50s and got out of television.

When I inched into my 60s, we picked up everything we owned and moved to Montana.

It was difficult and at times daunting, but we knew we were alive and not slipping into the grips of comfort.

As my 70s start to tease me, I wonder if in the next year, maybe Kathy and I need to listen for the call from God and push into the next adventure.

What is that? I have no idea, well maybe a few thoughts, but one thing we’ve learned, you can’t plan when you’re working with God, you listen, hear, and when He gives the word, you move.

We’ll see.