520life.org

So, my 28th birthday was yesterday. This is really wild for me. For the past few years, it has really bothered me how fast the time is going and how “old” I’m getting. I haven’t talked about it much, and I try not to think about it much. But I guess I can’t really get around it. I’m now 80% of the way through my twenties. Even crazier to me is that it was very nearly half my life ago that I was starting high school. It just doesn’t seem like that much time has passed since then.

I’ve been a little sad about the changing of my body, too. Something happened to me at about age 25, which is what I had always heard happens. It’s nothing terrible. I’m in great health, and I still get out a couple of times a week and play soccer, which I plan to do for a long time. I can’t and wouldn’t complain. Something definitely happened, though. My muscles are tighter, and I have to stretch longer every time I play sports. And I am more sore after playing and for longer.

I’m beginning to see some good things about growing older that I hadn’t appreciated before, though. For one, I’ve heard that, in general, the older you are the less sleep you need. I’ve been jealous ever since one of my 50-something professors in college told my class he only needs 5 hours of sleep a night to be well-rested. For those of us who are young, think of the things we could do with that kind of schedule! Anyway, the past few months I’ve felt like I’m starting to turn a corner on sleep. I think I’m in pretty good shape with 7 hours a sleep these days, instead of the 8 or more I used to need.

Another benefit to getting older fits nicely with a growing passion I’ve had for discipleship/mentoring (both giving it and receiving it). I’m realizing that I’ve reached a point in life experience now where I actually have a couple of words of advice to give people who are 5 or 10 years younger. A vast fountain of knowledge and wisdom I’m not, but I’m glad that I can give a few good words of counsel to younger people I care about.

I have commented to a few people close to me that I have noticed a difference each summer, as I lead a dozen or so interns ages 18 to 25. Leading the interns has been a challenge the past fews years, because I’ve practically been their peer. Each summer, though, I notice that they have a bit more respect for me, which helps me be a better leader for them and speak into their lives more effectively. This past summer, especially, I could see that. I was 27 years old, had been married 5.5 years, and our third child was born. I think it was the first time the interns saw me as more of a leader and mentor than a peer, and it marked the first time they have come to me of their own accord for advice.

One more benefit of growing older is that I really love family life. Being married and having kids is great. When we started having kids, it really bugged me for a while that young singles (and there are tons of them around our base) didn’t hang out with us nearly as much anymore. They immediately put us into a different category than themselves. Gone were the days of them choosing to sit with us at the lunch table in our base dining room. But now that I am coming to grips with the fact that I’m an adult, I don’t mind it so much. Raising kids is fun, maturing as a husband is rewarding, and I look forward to many great years of family life ahead.

So yes, aging has been something of a struggle for me, and I’m not even old yet! I’m glad its getting easier, though, because I’m only going notice it more and more. I want to embrace the years ahead, not dread them. I can now see that there are great benefits to older age coming in future years, and that has me excited.

What do you all think, readers? What benefits have you seen to growing older? What parts have made you scared or nervous or have you not looked forward to? Leave a comment and let us know!

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 15th, 2007 at 8:50 am and is filed under Personal Reflections. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.