It's my birthday week. And this is a significant birthday, meaning it has a zero in it! 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 an even greater reason to celebrate.
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. Of course there are the inevitable aches and pains and wrinkles that come with this season, but I really don't feel "old".
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. I'm particularly crawn to his Resolution 52:
"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."
As I am celebrating 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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