Recall seeing a cartoon showing an older gentleman, a young boy and a middle aged man exiting a movie theater. The older and younger men were laughing and smiling while the middle aged guy appeared to be unhappy. Above them on the movie theater’s marquee was a sign saying “Fun for the Young and the Old.” Thought about that when I saw this questionnaire wanting to know one’s age.
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| From mistiquesoul.blogspot.co.uk |
Seems that middle aged really means taken-for-granted age. Lots of emphasis is focused on the developmental years of 0 – 20. And with all us boomers rolling into our 4th quarter, lots of attention is now being directed to the geriatric end of the life span.
However, it is the middle years that seem to get lost in the shuffle. A good book on dealing with the middle years in general and specifically with retirement is titled “Don’t Retire, Rewire.” (In addition to their website, the authors have a blog (click here.)
There’s the take also that life is like a three act play with Act 1 the intro stuff, 2 development and 3 resolution. Regarding Act 2, check out this explanation: “There is an age-old saying that “the second act is the best” because it was in between a starting and ending act and thus being able to delve deeper into more of the meat of the story since it does not need to have as prominent introductory or resolutive portions. (Wikipedia.)
Thus, to all you post-45, pre-70 rock and rollers, get out there and have some fun while you still can. Another saying comes to mind: “once you start going downhill, you gain speed.” Here’s a good synopsis of how and why one’s life spins out the way it does.
On the first day God created the dog. God said, “Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. I will give you a life span of twenty years.” The dog said, “That’s too long to be barking. Give me ten years and I’ll give you back the other ten.”
So God agreed.
On the second day God created the monkey. God said, “Entertain people, do monkey tricks and make them laugh. I’ll give you a twenty-year life span.” The monkey said, “Monkey tricks for twenty years? I don’t think so. Dog gave you back ten, so that’s what I’ll do too, okay?”
And God agreed.
On the third day God created the cow. “You must go to the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves, and give milk to support the farmer. I will give you a life span of sixty years.”
The cow said, “That’s kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. Let me have twenty and I’ll give back the other forty.”
And God agreed again.
On the fourth day God created man. God said, “Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. I’ll give you twenty years.”
Man said, “What? Only twenty years? Tell you what, I’ll take my twenty, and the forty the cow gave back, and the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back, that makes eighty, okay?”
Okay,” said God, “You’ve got a deal.”
So that is why the first twenty years we eat, sleep, play, and enjoy ourselves; the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family; the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren; and the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.
Life has now been explained to you.