Metaphysx.com

So… today was my birthday. Today I’m 32. What a dumb age to be.

It’s weird. I always have moments of reflection on my birthday. Today I went to lunch with David and Michelle. I don’t remember what we were talking about when I interrupted saying something like, "Ya know… 32 years ago, my mom was a 19 year-old little girl giving birth to me."

I know several 19 year-old girls and many a few years older than that, that I consider "little girls". It’s weird to think of my mom as a little girl.

Then I said, "And when my mom was my age, 32, she had 2 sons, 12 and 10. She had just married my step-father." Then I went back into my head.

Today I left work early because I had to drive up to the American Red Cross chapter in Indianapolis to pick up some promotional materials. The drive was kind of nice, because I’ve had a lot on my mind lately and hadn’t made time to just ‘think’. I did on this trip.

So, among other things, I thought about how different my life is from that of my parents. I mean, I’m 32, single, no kids, great job, great dog, great house, few worries and little responsibility. My biggest concern right now is how to go about reducing my expenses and increasing my income (to dump into savings) so that I can retire (ie, stop working) as soon as possible and live the rest of my life just hanging out.

Sometimes, especially when I think about those 19 year-old little girls, I feel old. But then I think about the fact that I’ve only been working in the real world for 10-11 years. If I follow the rules society has put out for us, I would be working for another 35+ years. That’s something exactly unlike encouraging.

But at the same time, it’s fascinating to think about having that much more time to experience the world. I mean… I’m only 32. If I’m lucky, I’ll live to be 60… maybe 70. I’ve been enlightened for such a short time. To think about living life for another 3 decades enlightened puts a different spin on things.

So I think I’m going to move to Florida and sell tie-dyed T-shirts on the beach to dumb spring-breakers.