On Mondays I serve lunch at the Water Street Mission. I've been doing this four years.
I like to be at the front of the line so that I can greet each person as they enter the line. Most people give some sort of greeting back. My conversation with one man in particular is the same each week.
We exchange hellos, then when I ask how he is, he replies "middle aged". It amuses him so much to say it that lately he doesn't even wait for me to finish the sentence before he begins his answer.
I'm 44. So, in reality, I am most likely in the middle of my life. But I don't see a reason for that to define me or determine how I am. I see it as I still have 44 years to live, to make a difference, to contribute. Much of the first half of my life was wasted, in my opinion, with frivolous, trivial pursuits in an attempt to become who I am. Now that I've established that, the secong half should be a piece of cake.
Perhaps I should change my question to "who are you?" I think until a person truly knows who they are, they are unable to adequately voice how they are. They do not operate independent of eachother. I am happy to be middle-aged. There is no time in my life I would want to go back to again. Every moment, every age, every lesson learned helped me become not only who I am, but also how I am.
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