Forty One Years To Life ... R. Boyd

Forty Years To Life

The story of man and his development is an ongoing saga of ups and downs. Forty years of living sets the stage for the rest of your life. If we look back at all of our experiences we find that we concentrate on a plethora of failures and our minute successes. But I think the best thing to do is look to the future and the possibilities.

What’s next?

When you hit forty you find your body has changed and your mindset has changed. Your body maybe a little fatter and your mindset is, to become as healthy as you were when you were twenty. The one thing you can’t change is as your age increases your body functionality decreases. Your legs get weaker and your arms get saggy. Your mind slows down and so do you. The worst part is you try to keep up with changing times but find that you are old. As my nephews told me the other day you can’t even find your expiration date because you have been around so long it has rubbed off. When you hit forty, life has become a crap shoot you may find yourself looking for an exit but because you have responsibilities you continue on. Because you have goals that you set for yourself when you were twenty and you have not reached them you press toward the goal that much harder. You stress over what I can accomplish before I get to old to do anything or possibly die. You live each day as if it is your last trying to leave a legacy or at least a mark on the world to say you were here. If you don’t have kids you begin to look for the first available dumb chick that will have your baby and not want to be married. If you have kids you pray that your spouse has not gotten tired of you and wants to divorce you leaving you to weekend visits by the little people you have given birth to. If you are divorced you are wondering if the opportunity to love will ever come again. Single mothers and fathers are in a more precarious situation they have to still trudge forward on a single income and hope that child support will be paid so they can afford to send the children to college or continue to provide while they are in college. What they have that is a blessing is the opportunity to advance financially now that the kids have left nest and are beginning their own adult lives. Now is the time, be a better example for your children don’t give into the notion that you can re-live the life that has passed; get over it, it has passed.

Life has not passed you by:

Yes the past is what it is you can’t change that, but life is not over at forty. The good news is now is the time to re-invent yourself and become brand new. Every day you wake is a new day with new possibilities. If you are out of shape then it is time to hit the gym become a physically fit middle aged, body beautiful, temptation to your spouse or intended. A new mercy from God opens the door for better second half of your life. You have to set new goals that are attainable in the near future and let go of goals that have since passed you by. Goals that make life worth living another forty years and into retirement that set you up to live comfortably while you rest in your retirement village. This is a time where you amass your wealth monetarily and spiritually. It is a time to become the new person you forgot about when you were raising your kids and concentrating on your career. A new person that loves hard, plays hard, and more importantly Praise hard. This is the time to love yourself and all your faults and make life the most enjoyable life you could have imagined. It is easy to get caught up in failures but now is not the time to worry about that; it is the time to worry about what to wear to the party; a party that begins every morning; a party that brings light to a dark world; a party that you organize on your behalf. This party includes a select group of friends that have stuck by you through thick and thin and wish blessings on you all the time. This select group of people is the ones who know where the bodies are buried and knows the bones that are hidden in your closet. They are the ones who will celebrate the next half of your life, occasionally taking you out to dinner and maybe buy you a gift or two just because you are you. This is the time to teach your children how to be upstanding adults and guide them in their pursuit of happiness. Teach them how to set attainable goals by giving them the knowledge of your failures and the lessons you have learned. Do not be ashamed to share life experiences with your children they are the best gift you can give them. You are the example not the governor so if they don’t listen to your warnings or your encouragements love them anyway and be there for them if they fall. If you are single explore being single and free, do not be afraid of the single life embrace it and feel free to live it to the fullest. Keep in mind that your spirit self is connected to the Holy Spirit so do not damage the relationship you have with God by living recklessly or unholy. If you are married live like you are on your honeymoon again and explore every inch of the marital vows, bed, and life. This second half of life should cause you to have a new love for your spouse and a new love for life.

Celebrate:

Do exactly that! Celebrate life for we do not know when the time will come.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

1. To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven:

2. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck what is planted;

3. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4. A time to weep, and a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time dance;

5. A time to cast away stones, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6. A time to gain, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away;

7. A time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

8. A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

This is your season Forty years to life

R. Boyd