This past weekend, I celebrated another birthday.  I turned 57, which is not old enough to qualify for Social Security, but still is old enough to say “may I have the senior discount, please?” at the movie theater.

Anyway, at my age, a birthday is a good time to pause for a moment and reflect about the past, take stock of the present, and look forward to the future.

I’ve made my share of life mistakes, but I’ve never had any regrets.  Every decision I’ve made in the past, every step I’ve taken – they’ve all led me to this specific point in time I am at right now.  Change any one of those past occurrences, and I may have ended up a much different person, in a different city, or even with totally different people.

Which brings me to the present.  I consider myself very lucky.  I have a home.  My family is healthy and safe.  We have food on the table and clothes on our backs.  These days, that’s an overlooked blessing.  I have a job that’s soon to be the bookend to a long and prosperous career.  In the grand scheme of things, the problems I do encounter are “first world” ones (i.e. trivial to most).  For that I am thankful. 

I often think about my parents and grandparents, tracing their ages back to match my current one and wondering what was going in their lives at the time they reached this age.  What were they thinking about?  Is it the same things that I do? 

Now, on to the future.  If you’ve kept up with this blog, you’ll know that I’m retiring from the world of work at the end of this year.  Why?  Well, for one, because I can.  No one ever lies on their deathbed and says “if only I had worked more.”  I’ve diligently saved over the years so that I can leave the world of regular employment on my terms, and this is the time.  Second, there are no guarantees in life.  I’ve seen friends my age (or younger) pass unexpectedly or be dealt a serious health crisis which forever changes the course of the remainder of their lives.  I am upright and capable, my mind is good, and I want to want to enjoy this “third chapter” of my life while I can.  Everyone has this expectation that they are going to live to be 80 or 85, and that is statistically just not in the cards for most people.

I’ve always been a planner – always looking ahead to the “next thing”, but now, I find that I’m challenging myself to live more in the moment – to enjoy where I am at right now.  It’s the time of my life to say “yes” more.  Yes to spending time with friends and family.  Yes to another glass of wine.  Yes to taking that trip to Vancouver, or Ireland, or Spain.  Yes to that slice of pie.  Yes to that walk on the C&O Canal towpath.  Yes to seeing that play or reading that book. 

The future is a blank slate, and its time now to fill it up with experiences, friends, and memories that are right in front of me.  Here’s to living more in the here and now, and relishing every minute of it.