Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Getting Older

I celebrated another birthday this week. To celebrate, we headed to the beach and had a great weekend filled with good food and good times. Since my stroke in November 2016, every day is a special day to celebrate! These months since the stroke have given me a new appreciation for life. A new awareness that each day is a precious gift not to be taken for granted. And every birthday celebration has become even more significant.

Birthdays bring inevitable thoughts about getting older. I can remember when, once upon a time, I thought anyone who had passed their 60th birthday was really old. Having passed that milestone several years ago, I no longer think of it in quite the same way. Because the truth is, I really don't think of myself as old. I don't feel old. At least, not on most days.

I remember reading several years ago that Jonathan Edwards, that great American preacher of days gone by, had seventy resolutions for his life, all of which he wrote while in his early twenties, and which he read every week for the rest of his life. His Resolution 52 has become my resolution as well.

"I frequently hear persons in old age say how they would live, if they were to live their lives over again. Resolved, that I will live as I shall wish I had done, supposing I live to old age."

Having passed another birthday, Johnathan Edwards' resolution continues to be my resolution, for the coming year and for however many years lie ahead:  to live as I shall wish I had done.

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