Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get
old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so
excited about aging that you think in fractions.


"How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six
and a half You're four and a half, going on five!


That's the key.


You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to
the next number, or even a few ahead.


"How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey,
you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life . . . you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!



But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound
like bad milk! . He TURNED; we had to throw him out There's no fun now,
you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?



You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40.



Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know
it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.



But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!


So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.



You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a
day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!



You get into your 80s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT
unch; you TURN 4:30 ; you REACH bedtime.



And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards;
"I Was JUST 92."



Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become
a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!"



May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!


Stu.

Stupot said:

Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.

Click to expand...

I dunno, seems to me time slows down as one approaches retirement... 356 days to go

Hey I am 33 and 3/4 and still act my shoe size not my age lol I cant wait to be 70, i will be just like Diana out of Waiting for God ( a cantankerous old BAT!!) oh shucks thats what I am now lol

I TURNED 30 a couple of years ago, I'm 31 and 8 months old. I hope when I am pushing 40 I am older but not old. Oh and I am a small child mentally :twisted: I have a hamster so that proves it.

ON a serious note; do all the things you want to do NOW. Not tomorrow. Sod the laws, laws are for other limited people. You never know when.....

ON a serious note; do all the things you want to do NOW. Not tomorrow. Sod the laws, laws are for other limited people. You never know when.....

Click to expand...

Take Hold of Every Moment

A friend of mine opened his wife's underwear drawer and picked up a
silk paper wrapped package:
"This, - he said - isn't any ordinary package."
He unwrapped the box and stared at both the silk paper and the box.
"She got this the first time we went to New York, 8 or 9 years ago. She
has never put it on. Was saving it for a special occasion. Well, I
guess this is it.

He got near the bed and placed the gift box next to the other clothing
he was taking to the funeral house, his wife had just died.
He turned to me and said: "Never save something for a special
occasion. Every day in your life is a special occasion".

I still think those words changed my life. Now I read more and clean
less.
I sit on the porch without worrying about anything.
I spend more time with my family, and less at work.
I understood that life should be a source of experience to be lived up
to, not survived through.
I no longer keep anything. I use crystal glasses every day.
I'll wear new clothes to go to the supermarket, if I feel like it. I
don't save my special perfume for special occasions,
I use it whenever I want to. The words "Someday..." and "One Day...."
are fading away from my dictionary.
If it's worth seeing, listening or doing, I want to see, listen or do
it now.
I don't know what my friend's wife would have done if she knew she
wouldn't be there the next morning, this nobody can tell.
I think she might have called her relatives and closest friends.
She might call old friends to make peace over past quarrels.
I'd like to think she would go out for Chinese, her favourite food.

It's these small things that I would regret not doing, if I knew my
time had come.
I would regret it, because I would no longer see the friends I would
meet, letters... letters that I wanted to write "One of these days".
I would regret and feel sad, because I didn't say to my brothers and
sons, not times enough at least, how much I love them.
Now, I try not to delay, postpone or keep anything that could bring
laughter and joy into our lives.And, on each morning, I say to myself
that this could be a special day.

Each day, each hour, each minute, is special.

If you got this, it's because someone cares for you and because,
probably, there's someone you care about.

If you're too busy to send this out to other people and you say to
yourself that you will send it "One of these days", remember that
"One day" is far away... or might never come...

And you get to 60 and think "Christ,I didn't realise life went by so quickly !!!"

Heard last night that another Mendip caver died in the last couple of days. Seems we all meet up at funerals rather than weddings these days (and the last few have been for chaps well under 60). Don't waste the time you have. Live every day as if it's your last...

Oh Tiggs, that's so poignant!

Yup... we're in such a damn rush to get old as kids, but then you want things to slow down. Count your marbles - Marble Story



CN.

Good grief this is a depressing thread. It nearly made me dig out my old Smiths LP's.

Honestly, people moaning 'cause they are in their early thirties..... :shock:

I'm 41 in about a month. Now lets see, over the past year I've done two major trips to France, including some of the best caving I've ever done, and also our dig went after ten years work and we had the thrill of a lifetime scooping new passages.

What am I planning now, well I've sold my house in the beautiful South and I'm moving to the Peak District in a few weeks time (hoorah!). As soon as thats done I'm off to Slovenia....

....a bit better than counting marbles down towards ones demise - OMG....

I'd like to count my marbles........................................but I lost them years ago.

We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are. After that we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage.

We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice holiday, when we retire. The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges.

Whats More
It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D Souza. He said, "For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life."

This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So, treasure every moment that you have. And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time... and remember that time waits for no one...

So stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until autumn, until winter, until you are off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you've had a drink, until you've sobered up, until you die, until you are born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy...

Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

:smokin:

I turned 52 last week and am happy with my lot.