Celebrating grandbaby #15 of 17.
My handsome husband and I have passed the marker for middle age. We aren’t over-the-hill, but we are closer to the summit than the trail head. Our journey is slower these days, but we sure enjoy the scenery more than we did back in the busy days. Here are a few life hacks we’ve discovered to make things a bit more pleasant in this season:
We laugh a lot.
The Bible says that a merry heart doeth good like a medicine. So, we laugh a lot. We laugh at old television shows that still give us a kick and at new comedies our children point out on Netflix. We laugh at Internet memes and family emails. And we laugh at movie lines we learned decades ago. We often laugh at ourselves and the indignities of our aging bodies. When we laugh together, those issues don’t seem so bad.
We Know our Limitations
That’s a movie line we quote. Clint Eastwood, I believe. Wendell and I both know our balance, our vision, our strength, and our stamina are not what they used to be. So, we stay off ladders. We pay for AAA coverage in case of flat tires. I buy the twelve pack of diet soda, even though the heavy cube is cheaper. We give ourselves an extra hour to get ready in the mornings so our joints can ease into the process. And, we repeat #1.
We Celebrate our Wealth
When we start to feel bothered about our limitations, we count our wealth. Not the bank account kind. The true kind. We count our children and grandchildren. Our friends and our family members. We count our experiences of grace from God. And we count the mercy moments. At the end of every day, we hug again. And we count the miracle of those two teenagers staying together for nearly fifty years. Like the Bible says, we count it all joy.