When you reach the half a century mark, you have to start confronting certain facts. The end line is closer than the starting line. Things around you begin to change, and things within you begin to show signs.

The brown in me spends too much time thinking and discussing medical issues. My own or all the people in my life.  Then there are physical signs of the body giving out. I have a hard time walking without a limp. I have a hard time doing stairs. I have a hard time remembering great jokes from years past. As recently documented I had to go take time off and nurse my parent back to health. This will be an on going thing.  It’s not going away.

It’s such an old cliche to live everyday as your last,  in my youth I did just that.  However I wasn’t thinking as such, it was just youth. Now the saying really takes more meaning.  We all have things we want to do and places we want to go.  So why do we wait? In my old age the brown in me wants to embrace the youthful mindset.  Throw caution to the wind and jump into life. This week I was reminded of the constraints of time.  Some dear friends who I hadn’t seen in awhile informed me of what at first seemed a drastic turn in their life situation. Then I realized how brave, inspiring, and joyful it is to see people who are embracing the unknown.  It’s youthful. I was inspired and thankful to have people in my circle who can shed a light of youth and awe into my life.  What really struck a chord was my friend stating time will only make it harder.  What if I cannot do it later? We are all getting old and certain things will become physically impossible. What if we won’t be able to enjoy it later? So Bravo to them for doing what we all need to do more of.

There is saying youth is wasted on the young. The brown in me feels wisdom is the curse of old age. Too much thinking of consequences, too much reasoning, and too much contemplation leaves us old people pining for youth. The brown in me is taking a page from my friends and restarting my youthful mind to jump back into life.  Why wait?

Source: ItsTheBrownInMe