(no video today...this one needs to be written)
35 years x 2 = 70 years. Someone told me this past weekend that you're not old as long as you can double your age and still have a reasonable chance of being alive. So I guess I'm not old, but I am a year older today.
35 years have gone so quickly -- melted into a sea of memories sloshing about inside my head.
So let's take stock: my wife is still my best friend, my children are a treasure and a crucible, my family members are good traveling mates, my friends are great friends, the best thing about my job is the people I work with, and my faith is a comfort and a struggle. Not bad for half-a-life (God willing). Sounds fairly normal for 35 year-old white boy from Houston.
And now for the questions...
Q: Am I settling?
A: Maybe.
Q: Is settling a bad thing?
A: I don't think so.
Q: What if I could've been a star chef or a missionary or a circus clown or an NFL referee or a rock star? What if I could've done something magnificent?
A: Ummm...you've already been all those things, just not on the scale that you typically consider magnificent. Rethink magnificent.
Q: What about the world? Doesn't it need changing?
A: You are changing the world, one diaper at a time.
Q: What if I'm a bad parent? I'll be screwing up 3 kids at once!
A: You will be a bad parent occasionally, so get over it. But you'll also have shining moments of brilliant and compassionate parenting. Like B said, you just have to be "good enough".
Q: What about my faith? I'm as weak and sinful and selfish as ever and I thought I wouldn't be by now.
A: Join the crowd and keep at it. Out of the struggle comes growth.
Q: What about the will of God? What if I missed it?
A: The will of God is more about who you are, not what you do. However, your choices are often determined by who you are.
Q: My work is interesting but not that rewarding. Am I wasting my life on work that doesn't reward me emotionally or doesn't really meet the needs of the world?
A: 1. See the answer to the previous question. 2. Do you serve people in the course of your work? Do you have human co-workers? Then you have a call to be merciful, loving, compassionate, and self-less towards all you come in contact with at work. Once you've mastered that, call me back.
Q: Who are you and why don't I hear from you more often?
A: I'm always around but I'm usually soft-spoken. You pump so much noise into your head that you can't hear me most of the time. You'll hear me when you're quiet. And by the way, happy birthday.
drb
