My internal clock and my passport don’t agree.
My passport says I’m a guy in his 50’s. Fifty-one, to be exact. But it doesn’t seem that that’s possible.
Why is that?
I’m guessing most of us don’t THINK of ourselves as old as we really are. Nearly everyone imagines themselves aging better than most people their age. The powers of self-deception are great.
It may also be that I was born when my parents were twenty. So, since they’re just barely in their seventies, I ought to be — what? — maybe 40?
One of the keys in life is to age gracefully. I want to do that.
I don’t want to be bitter about the energy and unpredictable ideas of people who are younger.
I don’t want to do combovers.
I don’t want to quit learning.
I don’t want to become cynical. (All right. More cynical.)
I don’t want to become a grump.
I’ve seen so many people age well: ripened with kindness, wisdom, and patience. They age like good wine.
Those are the examples I’d like to follow.
- - - -
Yesterday my six-year-old niece caught me after our second assembly to inform me that her fish appears to be dying.
But she’s praying for it. (See post from a few days ago.)
She’s learned a lesson about the power of prayer. She may be about to enter the mystery of unanswered prayer.
If there is a sudden reversal of health, I’ll let you know.
Mike,
I’m assuming from the content of your post that today is your birthday. If so, happy. I attended College Church during your Harding days and haven’t seen you or heard you speak much until Zoe this year. You are aging well. Thank you for your life of service.
I could not agree more…
I too want to be mellow soul in my “middle age.”
Here’s to graceful aging!
It does sound like an birthday post, doesn’t it? Nope. Just my fascination with death coming out. I’m a July guy.
Surely God has Exotic Celestial Fish Aquariums in the Sky? ‘Fish, be healed!’
Now that you’re part of the Funky Knees Crowd, I’ll show you the cool solution a dear friend who is in her 70’s got me recently next time we visit A-town. It’s not in quite the same category as comb-overs, but it is comforting to know you won’t need spandex to tote it!
There’s an art to denial.
I sort of like the idea of being a crotchety old man
OTOH that’s a long way off. Man’s days will be 120 years (Gen 6:3) and I’m not quite halfway there yet.
Were you the one who mentioned the book “Healthy Aging” a while back? I think he’s got a fantastic attitude towards aging and one I am trying to emulate. It’s interesting to see the difference between the way men accept aging and the way women do. My experience is women spend an awful lot of time trying to combat aging rather than attempting to embrace it in a healthy way. Do you think that is the same with men? I get the feeling it isn’t as big of a deal for guys, but I could be wrong.
How can you become more cynical than posting “The Effectual Fervent Prayer of a Six Year Old Availeth Much” and then state “She may be about to enter the mystery of unanswered prayer.”
Mike, if you go to the combover, we won’t be friends anymore.
Oh great! Now EVERYONE knows how old your mother is!
I used to hear “Wow….I had no idea you were that old. I thought you were MUCH younger.”….a lot….every year on my birthday. Well….I turned 39 a couple of weeks ago & only heard it once. I’m choosing to believe that as I age….so are the people around me, and their eyesight is going. This must be why I’m not hearing it as much….must be. But….as I’ve always said….as long as you give me a present on my birthday….you can call me any age you want. My great-aunt turned 100 the day before my birthday a couple of weeks ago. With those genes in me, the possibiltiy of a long life is likely. So….I’m pretty young, relatively speaking (no pun intended). (I’d love to link you to the TV interview they did with her in Dallas last Monday, but I have no idea how to do that.) Let me just tell you….100 is VERY cute. Can’t wait.
Mike,
“I’ve seen so many people age well: ripened with kindness, wisdom, and patience. They age like good wine.”
Me too but I’ve sucked at it.
I’d like to meet your niece. I showed your post about the dog being found to my 6-year-old daughter and she really smiled and loved the idea of her drawing pictures and praying about a lost dog.
I realized that I had aged when I became aware of the fact that I was older then the “old men” we used to play when I was in the youth group growing up.
I realized that I had aged when my vertical leap was better measured by the subsequent horizontal fall.
I realized that I had aged when I turned to my wife and complained when we were asked to stand and sing.
Finally, I realized I had aged when in a moment of vanity, I tried to carefull remove what appeared to be the growth of gray hair on my head.
I am not going to do well in the aging department.
If you’re bald…you don’t have to do combovers, right???
I am younger than you by 4 months, so I just turned 51 myself. I can honestly say that this is a really sweet season of life. Aging is just part of life, so we might as well enjoy the ride.
LOL - you know you’re getting old when you’re self-consciously having to rely on cunning, spin and misdirection to beat a high-school tennis stud instead of trying to out-slug him. What a wimp.
qb
Mike!! Do you really think I’m going to touch this subject?
and a bit of 
LOL
Mike!! Do you really think I’m going to touch this subject?
and a bit of 
LOL
The applicable saying in Spanish is: No cuentas tu dinero enfrente de los pobres. [Don't count your money in front of the poor.]
Consider yourself rebuked.
LOL
I am feeling a bit proud today. I am 37 and got carded at Walmart this morning for cold medicine AND a bottle of wine! I cracked up! The lady even took a good hard look at me, too! I am still laughing out loud!!!
51 is not old if you are a moth!
Peace.
I was feeling fine until Amy’s post. Thanks a lot, Mrs. Boone. Makes me want to go try to buy some spray paint, Liquid Paper, and cough syrup all at the same time just to see. Better not, just in case.
Hi Mike!
I am a fellow 51 year-old and couldn’t agree with you more!
BTW, I was a member at Highland in the late 90’s until I moved to the Metroplex in 2001. Can’t tell you how much I enjoyed those years and what it did for my spiritual life. God bless all you folks!!
I attend Irving Bible Church and a sermon was recently given by Jay Utley. Jay was in Searcy years ago and made a complimnetary reference to you to the extent that I knew exactly who he was talking about. It was a little taste of “home” to remember the good people at Highland. I was visiting there about a year ago and took my fiance (now my wife) and she, too, felt at “home” witht the believers there.
I wish you and your family the best!
In Him, your brother, Kevin Hahn
It is odd how we see ourselves aging better than others our age. I saw an “old” friend at homecoming recently and seriously thought, “Wow - she’s not aging very well.” Then I realized I HAD had to introduce myself. . . so maybe she wasn’t the only ones!
Mike — interesting that your parents and my dad are about the same age. I always thought he had me SO OLD, at 35. Then we had Jenna at 33 and I find myself at playgroups with moms who are all in their twenties.
I wish you could see my best Baytown friend, Lois Snead. She’s 84 years old and could be a study for aging well. Sure, her body’s not cooperating and she has some down days physically, which she finds annoying. But she holds fast to her youth and loves/ministers to young people instead of writing them off as hopeless. She makes me look forward to being old because I want to bless others then as she has blessed me.
Oh, and don’t worry about the combover. You’re a bit late for that.
Mike,
You probably do not remember me, I did the sound at the Porche wedding in February. I have been reading your blog for about a year now and appreciate you sharing your insights and reflections.
As to the age thing, I read somewhere recently that 60 is the new 40. I guess we are both 31, if I did the math right.
Paul
Amen Mike! I don’t want to admit that I’m 42. When my wife and I attend parent-teacher events at our kids’ schools, we always remark to each other, “Do we look as old as the rest of the parents in this room?”
Okay, I admit there have been days when I look in the mirror, totally by mistake, and croak to myself, ‘Ewwww… I look like my age feels.’
Forget lamenting about combovers. Just be glad you have a beard that belongs on your face.
Anyone seen Michelle Pfeiffer in Stardust lately?
At 51, I’ll have a 13 and a 10 year old to contend with. Not to mention a slightly younger wife continually reminding me she married an old man. All good reasons why I signed up with a trainer starting Wednesday at 6:45am.
Who invented comb-overs, anyway, and why?
hirsute qb
Who invented comb-overs, anyway, and why?
qb
Hi Mike
You know you are aging when your current events are the stuff of history to those youth around you. I really don’t feel old until then. However to be old here in Africa is a thing to be desired. Recently, at a village church Don and I were holding a marriage seminar, and the women said they wanted to be like me. Well, I”m thinking oh they think I am intelligent, articulate and then they said,” We want to be fat and old like you.” Both areas are to be prized in this country where life expectancy is 37 and emaciated is the norm due to famine. So just remember aging is a thing to be desired. It is all in the perspective of those who see us.
I recently saw a tv ad claiming their beauty product “treats not only the signs of aging, but the cause of it.” Hmm.
I have found that the older I get, the more my dad looks like me.
My grandfather will turn 100 on December 17th. He still lives alone (since my grandmother died a few years ago, at the age of 90), still drives, and until very recently would take overnight trips. I attribute it to two things: good genes (which I hope I have inherited) and an insatiable curiosity about everything - people, places, events, history, science… . He is still a bright eyed young man inside a 100 year old body.
Tracy,
Doesn’t that imply lethal side effects?
Years ago at Harding, one of the “Residents of the Month” we honored during chapel had this tip for aging well:
“Avoid alcohol, tobacco, and loose women..”
He WAS 100, so I guess he’d know.
Mike,
I am reminded of the old joke: “If you drink a glass of whiskey each day for about 28,835 day, you will live to be about 100.” (This, of course figures legal drinking age in the US;-)
I was a student at Harding at the same time you were, and I, too, am 51. I find it shocking. Astonishing really. Has it really been that long? Will the next years move so quickly? Is there a word for feeling very different yet very much the same? middle age, maybe?