ZERO

Tonight I went to the surprise party of a friend who had a birthday ending in --- gasp! --- zero.  He seemed to take it fairly well.  Why not?

I remember the first time I approached the gym door at the same time as 24-something-Buff-Junior and he paused, held the door for me and said: 'After you, Sir?'

'Who you calling Sir, Chump?'

They say the age you are is your speed of life.  In other words, when you're eight, life is moving along at about 8 mph.  When you're 25, the speed of life is 25 mph.  At 40, it's 40 mph -- at 65, 65 mph - when you're 80, it's 80 mph.

I've not been 80 yet, but at this point, I don't doubt it's true.

Someone said:  When you're young you have time and energy, but no money.  When you're in middle-age, you have energy and money, but no time.  When you're old, you have time and money, but no energy.  You can't win.

Celebrate the zero.

There are some pretty amazing benefits to growing older - and if you think about it, 'growing older' includes 100% of us.

No one taught me how to grow older, but it seems every time you approach the next zero of life, you re-evaluate just a little.  What's truly important in life comes into clearer focus than when you were an earlier zero.

Most of the major questions of life have by now been answered, thank God.

Not only that, when my wife and I have a skirmish after 34 years together, I'm not worried she's going to walk out and never look back.  It feels good to say, 'We've lived too many zeros for that to happen.'

Friendships become more stable, grandchildren become more likely and more amazing, contentment and emotional stability increase.  It's a misconception that you get grumpier as you gain more zeros.  People who are grumpy at 60 were grumpy at 30.  

With each compounding zero you make wiser and better decisions.  Your cognitive years are at their peak.  You're a better problem-solver and emotional intelligence grows.  You gain your own voice and become comfortable and confident using it.

You've also spent a lot of years developing a personality.  At a particular one of the zeros,  you discover you actually like yourself.  Not to mention, I'm happy to report to all of you who are younger, that my inner child is still ageless.

'It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old, they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams.'  ----- G.G. Marquez

So be free to celebrate the zero as early as possible.  In fact, I think I'm going to go give myself a big hug right now.

And be blessed.