My Dad Is About To Turn Seventy
That Calls For Celebration And Some Reflection
I’m going to take a little break again this afternoon.
A break from the charts, the stories and the comments.
And I’m really looking forward to it because these micro-breaks are fantastic for my mental state. Without them I would have burned out a long time ago.
This afternoon we’re going to celebrate my dad’s 70th birthday.
His birthday is technically Friday but we never really respected the calendar in our family. So why start now?
He’s going to be 70 and I just turned 35.
Based on the numbers, he should be twice as wise. I think that’s true, although I would never tell him that.
I wonder how I’ll be at 70.
The Big Hits
It’s an interesting thought experiment.
What advice would my 70 year old self have in store for present me?
I can already fill in some of the parts with my eyes closed:
Don’t overthink, don’t be shy, do more, be less egotistical, ….
All the big hits, if you will.
I have still a lot of work to do on myself, that’s for sure.
But I also think my future self would be impressed by some things.
I found grace at 33. I realized my purpose at 34. And I’m starting to get to the truth of this ‘experience’ at 35.
Those are interesting milestones and I’m sure there’s a lot more to come.
One thing was crucial in achieving all those things.
The Secret Sauce
It’s something my 70 year old self would talk about too.
In fact, I suspect he would be blabbering on and on about that secret sauce.
It’s patience.
That’s the secret to achievement.
It took me eight years to become physically healthy, it took me twenty years to become mentally healthy and it took me over thirty years to become spiritually healthy.
In fact, I’m not close to being the latter.
So that’s why patience comes in very handy. Some things take very long to actualize and those things matter the most.
Patience works.
I truly think that patience is the one character trait the universe tests for. Patience is becoming the common theme in all my ‘journeys’.
The patient ones will inherit the earth.
Greed Is Not Good
Posts like these remind me of what’s possible.
But it’s only possible when I’m patient.
That’s why I need to increase my capacity for it. I’m still not patient enough.
I still don’t have infinite patience.
I was talking the other day to my friend about visiting her in a six months or so. My first thought was: ‘That’s so long’.
No, patience doesn’t come naturally to us.
One of my positions increased 2k on Saturday. My first thought was: ‘Okay, another 50 days like that and I’m set’.
I’m greedy, impatient and impulsive at times.
That needs to change.
I’m dedicating this post to my dad.
He lived 70 years in this realm and I’m sure he’ll spend a lot more here.
If there’s one character trait he had to learn when dealing with me, it’s patience.
I’m grateful for that.
So here’s to another 70 years.
Everything is possible, if you’re patient.
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