The reality of it all

I sit here, completely in disbelief that one week from today, I will turn 28.

Yes, it's true; this isn't 30. Yet 28 is a mere 2 years from 30, and that means it's so close I can smell it.

I must ask....where has the time gone? I tried my best not to squander my years, yet it seems as if the past ten have been an absolute blur. It still feels like yesterday when I used to come home from school in second grade, throwing my lunchbox onto the counter and shedding my backpack.

"I want to be 22," I told Mom many times. "Why 22?" she would ask. It probably did sound completely random to other people when I said this. "Because that's how old Miss Schultz is, our teacher's aide, and I love her. She's so cool. She is done with college, and she's still young and pretty. I can't wait to be 22." "Don't wish your life away," Mom said to me, for the upteenth time in my little life. I nodded, but I don't know if that truly sunk in as it should have.

I remember my 22nd birthday vividly. I was engaged to be married, and in my senior year of college. I stopped suddenly that day when it hit me: "I'm finally 22." Did I feel as perfect as I pictured Miss Schultz to be? Not quite. I had all the things she had, plus a husband-to-be, yet I didn't feel as if I'd "arrived."

Now I'm approaching the mark that most people (especially women) dread. I'm not scared of it. In fact, I am embracing it. I count it a privilege that God has seen fit to give me 28 years on this planet, and I count daily the blessings he has given me. I am so "rich" at 28, and I realize that full well when I stand back and survey all the people around me that I love and who love me.

I told Ken once that I would never dye my hair to cover up any gray that threatens to show one of these years. I want to grow old naturally, yet gracefully. See, beauty and youth come from within. I use people like Dad for inspiration, who is in his late 50s yet still runs for exercise and loves to hike. I don't think age should hold you down. In fact, some people remark that their life BEGINS at 30. I would like to be one of those people.

I pledge again, here and now, not to wish my life away. Mom's words of wisdom still echo within my heart. They are true....so true....and as important as remembering that it's not wise to live entirely in the past, either. God gives us each day to cherish, and every day brings new, wonderful things with it.

I am so grateful for this upcoming 28. And I will still hold this smile on my face, stubbornly, as I watch 29 and then 30 come my way.

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