As I sit here working and listening to co-workers talk about work and the weather and their kids and their lives, I am struck by the weather going on outside my office window. It is snowing in Dallas. I am having a tough time concentrating on my work when the world as I know it has been turned upside down. It is Opposite Day. Talkeetna Alaska (which is a small town at the base of Denali that caught my fancy when we visited a few years ago) is warmer than Dallas. The Apocalypse can't be far behind.....
I think this is the way life is. I have always wondered why God created us to age in ungraceful and oftimes, embarrasing ways when we have the most to offer the world. We have gained wisdom and experience that takes many years of errors and failures to perfect. We should be better fit now to share that wisdom and experience if only we could remember where we put it or why we're sharing it. We go into the Winter of our lives with little warning and no hope of reversing the process. It's like Opposite Life.
I understand that God has a plan. I understand that I am not privy to that plan, but I wish He'd share the thinking and strategy behind His plan. I think I could help Him come up with a way to slow the process and allow us more experienced teenagers the ability to share what knowledge we have with the younger set. That could help move the world forward faster. It might help the younger set to appreciate us older teens. It might even help the lines at WalMart get shorter... I digress.
Opposite Life is not fun. I tweaked my knee in bed the other night (i.e., night equals after 9 PM) just by turning over. The Winter of life is not for the weak. It is not for the faint of heart. Only the strong can survive the struggles of weak bladders, falling body parts, and lost keys, eyeglasses, and teeth. The call of the wild turns out to be a walk to the mailbox and a 2 hour nap. Experience and wisdom have fallen by the wayside as we struggle to understand why we can sleep in a chair with the TV blasting full-volume and then stay up till 3 AM because we can't sleep. We can't remember our wife's name, but we can sing every word of Along Comes Mary by the Association. Winter... ugh
This time in life can be annoying, but it can be enjoyable as well. God let us live this long for some purpose, so go figure that out. We're not dead. We still have some of our facilities. We still remember some wisdom and can relate most of our experience, so find someone that needs a mentor. Join up with an organization that helps young folks mature and learn. Help out at a school or college or hospital or nursing home. Add value to someone's life and they'll add value to yours. Don't feel sorry for Winter. Don't let Opposite Life get you down. Make sure that Spring is in your heart and that warmth will chase the Winter away.
My reflections. Let me know yours. Let me know what opportunities you've found for adding value to someone's life. We'll both be glad we did !!!!
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