In exactly thirteen days I will be thirty-seven years old.
I love my birthday and always will and will never be one of those women who feel the need to remain perpetually twenty-nine or thirty-nine or whatever it is these days. That line from Sunset Boulevard says it all and still holds true, "There's nothing wrong with being fifty, unless you're still trying to be twenty-five.". I want credit for the years I've made it through and want all of them represented in the candles on my cake, and yes, no matter how my metabolism deteriorates, I will always want cake. You will not see me demure from the sweet stuff no matter how my waistline may wane. Life is short, People, Eat The Cake! (I'm with Marie Antoinette on this one.)
I love being thirty-seven (almost!) because for one thing it means I'm not twenty-seven...My twenties were my own personal pergatory, the bootcamp of my life, and I am happy to have them over with. I don't get all misty-eyed and morose when I hear songs like The Summer of '69 that sing the supremacy of youth. To me this smacks of the Israelites-in-the-Wilderness scenario, the unbound bondslaves bemoaning their precious Egypt and the leeks and onions they left behind.
But none-the-less the illusion of youth's grandeur is perpetuated every where you look: American Idols tending to be no older than seventeen, no less than a C-cup, and having an IQ no greater than forty-two, commercials and sit-coms depicting juveniles as just barely tolerant of their 'antiquated parents' and 'outmoded elders', plastic surgeries being performed for practically anything and everything (I love the New Yorker comic that depicts two women meeting on the street and the one saying to the other, "I love your body! Where did you get it?!" Funny, Sad, and True.)
How much we miss ever only looking back, seeing more of ourselves in the past than in the present, clinging to a time gone by and buried, allowing what has been to become the be-all-end-all, lingering over leeks and onions when we could be having cake.
I will spend the next two weeks, not in restless rumination and existential examination, but rather in anticipation and in celebration, of the day to come, of the year to come, of not only what has been, but of what is and what is yet to come...
And of course, when the day rolls around, I will blow out all my candles, extricate them one by one, then pass out the pock-marked pieces to all my friends and loved ones...
and yes, I will eat cake...
....with gusto...
...with abandon...
...and with very little restraint.
"Your life is not over, it may not even have begun..."
Happy Birthday to me
: )
"One thing I do: Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." -Phillipians 3:13
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4 comments:
Yes, yes, yes... "lingering over leeks and onions when I could be having cake." I have been thinking about that for the past couple of years and how it applies to my life. I was so proud to turn 50! (At age 30 I was okay, at age 40, I cried only for a few seconds, and then laughed at myself--I knew I'd be okay.) I'm 55, and I am wiser than yesterday, but hopefully not as wise as I will be tomorrow. I've also thought about the 'lamenting for Egypt' in my life. I have found myself thinking about how I had more money in my previous marriage (but not salvation through Christ), and lamenting the fact that in my present marriage, we struggle financially---but now I am saved! Now, in what relationship and period in my life am I 'richer'? It's a no-brainer. I kept wanting to go back to Egypt where life was 'easier', not rememebering that's where I was in bondage. New Subject: Thank you so much for your comments on my blog---I'm soooo glad that the Lord ministered to you through what I wrote---what an honor. And your writing is terrific--you are so gifted in that area! I look forward to reading more of your posts---I see you 'have only just begun'! Wonderful! And what a great and mature attitude about growing older. Oh yes... the youth culture, what a snore!
Oh thank you, Joy! So glad you popped over!! Off to read your new post myself!! Will write more there : ) Sure do appreciate your words here and your added perspective to this topic...I will take it with me into my birthday and the upcoming year....timely "two cents" here, that's for sure : )
Hi Hindsfeet, Belated Happy Birthday wishes to a joy and a blessing- you are a jewel in His crown. So glad you were born!
Oh KR! What a treasure of a message this was to have today, you have no idea! Thanks so very much for these sweet thoughts...Happy Day to you over there... : )
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