One Year Older and Wiser Too

Curmudgeon: A person (especially an old man) who is easily annoyed or angered and who often complains. (dictionary)

I have noticed that the word curmudgeon follows me around sometimes. Just last week I wrote a post about how television has gone down the proverbial toilet. (link here)  The problem is, the older you get, the larger your frame of reference, and it is easy to look back and say, “Yup, in the good old days, this or that was better.”

It is inevitable.  Don’t believe me?  Ask the prophet Nephi. (Not the first one, the one when Christ came) Apparently he had some of those same thoughts about the “Good Old Days.”

Why am I prattling on about this? I turned 52 this weekend, and such occasions call for some reflection.

To some of you, 52 seemed like a long time ago, and you look back fondly.  To others, 52 looks like the final innings.  Victor Hugo said, “Forty is the old age of youth; fifty the youth of old age.”

To me, 52 is neither. I’m not OLD, but I’m definitely not YOUNG. My initial, curmudgeonly thought was to blog about all the things that I hate about getting older, but the more I though about it, I decided not to focus on that. That is too easy. Instead, I want to point out some of the good parts about getting older. I have always liked what Paul said:

“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” (Philippians 4:11)

As I think about it, I am content at 52, at least I try to be. At the risk of sounding too introspective (navel gazing) I will try and explain what I mean. (Please note:  This is gleaned from my life – not yours, so your milage may vary.)

• I have seen many trends come and go – and that reassures me that some of the dumber trends will join my Angel Flight slacks on the trash heap of pop culture. That gives me hope and comfort.

• I’m finding it is easier to not overreact, or be swayed by exaggerated passions. I am also better at noticing when I am being manipulated. Hopefully, as I get older, I will continue to be less susceptible to “Hype” in all its forms.  (I think I’ll save that soapbox for another day.)

• It is looking more and more like I will keep my full head of hair. Sure, it is graying, but it is still there.

• With age comes wisdom – or at least more opportunities to soak some up, if you pay attention. I remember years ago when I left college. I was so disappointed that I would lose my opportunities for learning. As it turns out, there were still a couple of things I didn’t know in my twenties that I have picked up since then.  It truly is an ongoing process, and is only limited by what we put into it.

ª The older I get, the more the movie “Groundhog Day” takes on religious overtones.

• Age brings perspective in crisis.  Why? Because you have had enough crises by now to have a frame of reference.  Something bad happened? We can get through it, because we actually have been through worse.

• You have more experiences and can develop a repertoire of stories for parties. With proper fine-tuning, you can convince new people you meet that you have had an exiting, hilarious life.

• I really enjoy people congratulating me on 27 years of marriage, because they honestly feel it is an accomplishment.  To me it is no big deal – get back to me at 27 million years. There is an inexplicable security that permeates your being when you and your spouse are one, and have been for a long time. Mistrust must be exhausting. Love brings peace.

• It is becoming more and more apparent that I will never have to experience the oppressive struggles that come with massive wealth.

• Over the years I have met and interacted with so many people. Some were for a short time, some are still hanging around.  When you still get together with friends from 30+ years ago, you really have something remarkable.

• Vanity ebbs. Aging is inevitable, and it opens your eyes to the ridiculous lengths people will go to to alter their appearance.  However, taken too far, you can find yourself the old man in Walmart with mismatched clothes, black socks, and sandals.

• (This one courtesy of my EC) You become more aware that your parents actually did know what they were talking about when they said they remembered how hard it was to be a teenager. It’s something you don’t really ever believe until YOU are the parent, talking to YOUR teenager.

• My life has taken me many places, and I have seen a lot of amazing, beautiful things. This really is an amazing world. And in the digital age, I can capture as much of it as I want with photographs, without having to pay for prints. (Which never worked well for me – link here.)

• You get to watch the Kingdom of God roll forward.  When I was born, there were 12 temples on the earth. 12! There were 1.7 million members – close to 1/10th of what we have now.  It is amazing to have lived through that kind of change.

• My knowledge of the Gospel, and my testimony both continue to grow, and become more intertwined.  I addressed this early in the summer with the post “Beyond the Dots.” (link)

• I am much better at repenting than I used to be. And by “better” I mean more frequent, and quicker to do it. But I also seem to find more and more things I need to repent about – so what’s with that?

• There is great joy in seeing your children leave the nest to become honorable, righteous adults. Nothing brings a bigger sigh of relief. Three have left the nest, two to go. I could not be happier as to where they are at the stages they are in. They are all where they are supposed to be. I thank each of them, God, and my EC for that.

One thing I can’t quite reconcile, is that it is all moving too quickly – and it accelerates with each passing year. There is so much to be done. So much to be learned. So much that I want my children to experience, that I am not in a rush for the end…
(But I have lamented about that before here.

And finally, as you get older, you get a little mushy at times.  Not to worry! I will not turn the blog into Middleaged Mormon Man’s Melancholy Meanderings.  Besides, that would be far too many “M”s.

•••• Special thanks to all my wonderful Facebook friends who honored me with such a great birthday tribute yesterday. I was humbled, grateful, and touched – in a good way. At the risk of being considered a curmudgeonly egomaniac, I might convert yesterdays FB posts into a blog post so I can keep track of it.