Middle Aged Crazy!

There are several wrong things I used to think about people my age. I remember thinking when I hit 41, I would be old. I also thought in the year 2000 I would fly a hovercraft and shoot a ray gun. None of it was true. I had other silly thoughts like everybody felt grown up at 18 or maybe 21. I am for the first time in my life, just now, feeling like I am not a kid anymore. So it stood to silly reason I would feel old in my forties but it’s just not the case. There’s less smileage on the mileage and I’m aware of wear and tear, but I certainly don’t think I am old.

I have never been afraid of getting old. My thirties were much better than my twenties and I fully expect my forties to be much better than my thirties. There are big advantages to being my age, one of the greatest being; all four of my kids have jobs! Life for the Brewer is generally sweet.

One of the good things about being middle-aged is I find pleasure in much simpler things. For example, if I wear a belt, my belly button is a lot closer to where it’s supposed to be and that makes me happy.

The New Thirty

In the early eighties Jerry Lee Lewis came out with a song called Middle Aged Crazy. The lyrics described a man that fought off old age by trading everything in for a newer model. I vaguely remember a movie with the same title. I think it had Bruce Dern in it.

It seems to me, the anxieties many of us face at this age, especially for men, come from not having achieved certain dreams. The disappointment of being a lot poorer than you thought you would be and the realization of where you really are in life can cause any feller to shout a Homer Simpson “D’oh!’

Woulda-coulda-shoulda is a mantra chanted by people throughout the centuries and it doesn’t get you anything except a fresh bottle of Zanex. As Christians, God has a way of connecting us much more with our destiny than our history. That should be our priority. The need to achieve should motivate us and not be degraded to faster cars and younger women.

Better Hope Breakdown

I think it’s the will of God to turn general frustration into what I call Holy Ghost anticipation. With some help from the grace of God it can actually be healthy to be discontent with our current circumstances. The hope for better things is a really big deal.

But a thinking culture of self-pity will spin you off into dark places like a goldfish down the toilet. A date on the calendar should never justify those mindsets. A mental file full of times past should not justify our doubt and unbelief.

If our attention is more focused on what God has done and what God is still doing, instead of what we think God should of done or what God didn’t do, we will be people grateful, thankful and full of better hope. Middle aged “happy” you might say.

“As a man thinketh, so is he.” Proverbs 23:7

Contact The Brewer @www.FreshFromTheBrewer.com