Aging, The Future, and Hope
I’m 24 and I’ll be 25 within the year. I’m young but I am beginning to sense the effects of aging. “College kids” are beginning to seem young to me; high schoolers seem foreign; my body is softer than I remember; my muscles weaker. Not really a big deal, but it’s forcing me to come to terms with how I will respond to the reality that my life is passing.
As long as I can remember I have believed that a person is only as old as they think. My grandfather was an awesome example of this: He worked hard, traveled, learned, discovered, and lived life to the fullest far after he retired from his career and well into his 80’s. He always said he wanted to die in his bootstraps and he did. I really want follow his example. As long as God gives me life, I want to truly live.
Thus, as I am beginning to hear the jokes about how my last birthday that is worth looking forward to is approaching, I want to stop and deliberately protest. My life will not end at 25–nor at 30, 40, or 50! No, every year I will work hard to ensure that it is better than the last. I will not settle for drifting into monotony; I will live an adventure passionately seeking for the things that are better, more good, more right, and more true. I will seek to become more true to whom I was made to be and I will strive not to waste a moment in lament over times goneby.
But why this hope? Is it merited? Continue reading…