Prime of Life

These past couple of months I have celebrated many birthdays of friends and family members. As I watch people from different age groups react to the “sudden” increase in age, I contemplated the fact that I am in what is considered the prime of my life. I then proceeded to ask myself the age old question, “Am I making the most of my life?”

I thought through every life changing decision I’ve made, every transition I’ve gone through, every place I have traveled to, every place I have lived, and every person I’ve known. As far as I can tell, I am making the most of my life. Perhaps wisdom that only comes with age will tell me otherwise down the road but right now, here in this moment, I truly believe I am doing my best.

All of this introspection reminds me of everything I still desire to accomplish. The problem is I have youth and time on my side but lack money. And so I prioritize, save money, achieve the next goal on the list, and check it off. But I can’t help but wonder, what if I can’t save money fast enough before I run out of youth or time? Such would be life. Darn you, money!

Money or lack thereof sure does cause a lot of problems, doesn’t it? How many of us have watched our grandparents diligently save money so when they retire they can finally travel to all those places they’ve dreamed about visiting, just to find out their bodies aren’t up to the challenge? I don’t want that to happen to me.

The way I see it there are two steps I can take now to prevent this from happening to me:

1. Continue prioritizing, saving, and achieving goals to the best of my ability.

2. Take care of my body. I need to eat healthy foods and exercise regularly so I can still be checking goals off my list for years to come.

I’ve been watching my grandparents as they age. It’s hard to watch it happen but I’ve made an important observation. There is a HUGE difference in the quality of life between my grandparents that took care of their bodies and my grandparents that didn’t. Some of my grandparents ate healthier foods, smaller portions, and went for daily walks. Some of my grandparents didn’t.

So if I have any regrets later in life, it will probably be that I didn’t exercise regularly. (I’ve already made huge improvements in my diet over the last five years.) Fortunately, it’s not too late. I’m still in my prime and don’t have to wait until New Years to make another resolution.

~ by anonymouscogitations on May 4, 2009.