Today, one of the segments had as its focus, John Mellencamp, and someone (I don’t remember who) conducted an interview with the long-time ‘rocker.’
While I know little or nothing about the man, as my taste in music ‘runs’ a different direction, Mellencamp seemed all too human, and had such an obvious grasp of the finiteness of life.
And when he said the following, I felt compelled to write it down.
My perspective exactly!
Today I told my wife,
“You know we’ve been in our home for thirty years. If we are here thirty more, we’ll be (drum roll) 100!”
Why, just yesterday I was running behind the mosquito spray truck, as did all the kids of my day and time. And this was when the spray spewed out of the nozzle like a cloud. (You would think our parents would have realized how dangerous the chemicals were to our young bodies). I mean, after all, my dad was an exterminator!
Pt. 2
The simple fact stares us in the face. As long as we continued to live and move and breathe we are growing older, and one day we must “lay it all down.”
The holy scripture doesn’t “pull any punches” when it admonishes us,
“It is appointed unto man once to die…” (Hebrews 9:27)
Like John Mellencamp, I can see the proverbial finish line, I know I have comparatively few summers left, but I don’t intend to waste them by being old.
As a Christian therapist, I have counseled thousands of men, women, boys and girls. But, honestly, I enjoy interacting with young adults most, and have often told them,
“Hey, I’m thirty, …as long as I avoid mirrors.”
However, the fact remains I am just months short of seventy, I have nine grandchildren and six great grandchildren, and a couple of my kiddos are fast approaching fifty.
But given the foregoing, I don’t think we have to waste our so-called golden years being (acting) old; (and I certainly have no intention of doing so).
I don’t know, but at least to me, it seems like the great grandparents of yesteryear just plain looked and acted old. Now, I’m not an authority ‘cause my last relative in this noble category died when I was a baby, but based on films and photographs, well, they just looked old.
Pt. 3
Granted, even the oldest among us wear jeans and sport shirts, and designer regalia, whereas our forebears wore overalls and “old lady dresses,” respectively. And of course, they have exchanged their brogans for sneakers.
Sadly, however, there are those among us who are not only growing old, but acting old, and seem content to wile away their days. Too many neglect proper nutrition, exercise and rest, and some insist on filling their lungs with smoke; which not only contributes to their early demise, but to the general malaise, and deterioration of their physiologies.
I think we are all different, but at least for me, acting young is all about embracing my mission in life, and doing it with all my might.
My favorite words in all the world are,
Heritage, Destiny and Legacy.
We receive a Heritage. We fulfill a Destiny. We leave a Legacy.
Every day I pray,
“Lord, please don’t allow me to miss the remainder of my destiny.”
And, to me, fulfilling my destiny is all about impacting those whom God sets in my pathway on a daily basis.
One of my interns once gave me the most amazing gift I have ever been given, when she said,
“Dr. Bill, I don’t want to disappoint you. I’ll go for you when you can no longer go. I’ll speak for you when you can no longer speak. I’ll reach, teach and keep people in your name long after you have gone on to your reward!”
How can I possibly act old, as long as God continues to grace me with such people of excellence?
by William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from (Mc)Donald's Daily Diary, Vol. 83. Copyright pending
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