Weekend Words: Young and Old, It’s All in the Mind

Ro’s Words of Encouragement is taking a short break this week. Please enjoy this Weekend Words from October 1, 2010. We’ll be back with new material next Friday.   

I’m writing about three different people and three different perspectives on life this week. One of these people is early on the front nine of life, one is somewhere in the middle of the course, and one is deep on the back nine.

My nine-year-old nephew was given a questionnaire to fill out on his first day of school this year. One of the questions asked what he was most proud of in his life right now. He responded, “I’m proud that I have 5 sharpened pencils. I’m so glad to finally have all 5 sharp.”

My mother said at lunch last weekend that she doesn’t worry about anything anymore. She said that she can’t remember half the stuff she would worry about anyway. We talked about one of my uncles, who had just turned 79, and my mother commented, “Now that’s old!” She then remembered that she is 77. “But that’s not that old,” she protested. It’s all in the mind, I guess. Age really is just a number.

In a recent column in Parade, well-known writer Harlan Coben talked about going to his 30-year high school reunion. Looking around at all of the people he had grown up with, he was struck by how he was instantly transported back to his high school days. It floored him to realize that he and most of his classmates are in their late 40s, because he doesn’t feel that “old”.

“I’m 48 years old, not a kid anymore by any definition,” he wrote, “but here is a universal truth that every adult at some point will realize:

We are all always 17 years old, waiting for our lives to begin.”[1]

Have a great weekend,

Ro