Back in July of this year I reached a milestone that is still giving me fits. You’ll know what I mean if you have ever gotten an AARP application in the mail and your hair is turning gray and you realize that mid-life has finally caught up with you. Well, turning fifty has presented itself with two major options, the optimist or the pessimist. Now, if you have ever met my Dad then you know what one of the two options looks like; at least I know anyways. My point is that by looking at the glass for hours and trying to decide which way the liquid inside moves you to think and act is a sheer waste of time. There is nothing like the present to say: “So what, I am going to move ahead and be the person I am and I am going to improve on this classic model to make it better than ever.” Henry Ford was no fool when he invented a better way to build cars, make them affordable to the masses and not let age slow him down.
Accepting ourselves as we go through life is an ongoing challenge, especially as we adjust to the many truths that hit us in the face. For me, getting older and realizing I have spun my tires for far longer than I should have is tough to accept. What I mean is that I have gotten stuck in a vicious cycle of doing the same old thing and getting the same results; all too often at great personal and financial distress. The problem is I have never honestly addressed the truths I learned as a child about myself. Whether true in reality or not, I finally had the revelation that very few if anyone has ever believed in me. When I struggled in school, there were tutors and special teacher aids that handed out flash cards and corrected my spelling. When I failed to make the little league team, I don’t remember anyone getting out and coaching me to make the team the next year. What I do remember is that I began to lower my standards and expect less of myself and from life. But the last thing I want to accomplish today is to blame anyone or make more excuses for not making my hidden dreams a reality. Another thing is that there were far more happy memories from my childhood than bad, and that is what I want to draw from rather than the negatives.
I remember camping trips, fishing on Lake Erie and earning my Cub Scout Arrow of Light. There were sunny days and snow storms that have yet to be outdone and sledding down hills of pure ice enough to scare the daylights out of you. I remember my first crush and the agony of realizing she did not feel the same about me, but they have shaped who I am today which is OK, but there is still room for improvement.
Last week we said farewell to an American hero and pioneer of the space age, Neil Armstrong. He was a self proclaimed “White sock, pocket protector wearing nerdy engineer,” yet he achieved a milestone of epic proportion in the annals of human history. I too have the opportunity to become more than the sum of my past and the quiet shy kid who clung to the fringe like a sad wall flower. I have a choice to make that keeps me comfortable where I am and secretly miserable, or I can dare to be more, do more and allow for dreams to become more than a mere starry sky of whim. I can make that sky tell a story of hope and promise just by rearranging the positions of those stars any way I choose. Just like children who sit on a grassy hill and turn clouds into dragons or puppy dogs, I can dream and make them real. My dream for you is all the same, but you have the power to turn water into wine if you so choose because miracles in life really do come true. God bless. Witt
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