Older

I turn 29 today. Something inside of me is conscious of the fact that I'm approaching the end of another decade and that my precious days are numbered (10,592 gone forever, approximately 20,000 to go). I'm also aware of the value that society places on youth and that I'm irreversably moving away from that. Notwithstanding these considerations, I'm excited about my birthday.

I think I actually like getting older. I find a lot of things to complain about, but life has been pretty good to me so far and it seems to just get better with time. My relationships with family and friends continue to develop in rewarding ways. Professionally, I have long surpassed many of the goals that I had when I finished school. Each year, I perceive that I become a little bit smarter (or maybe I just think I'm getting smarter). Certainly, I know myself better with each year that passes. I haven't intended to do this - it has been a byproduct of my pursuit of other objectives. Ironically, that byproduct is more valuable to me than the acheivement of those pursuits. Hmmm....the journey is more important than the destination. Damn, I guess someone already thought of this.

So, why is it that society places such a value on youth? Why does society tell us that the passing of time is something to fear? It doesn't make much sense to me. Trading your youth in exchange for experience seems like a pretty good deal to me. Experience is the real treasure. Experience has taught me who I am. Experience has given me perspective. Experience has shown me that I really haven't experienced much, yet. I'm looking forward to accumlating as much experience as I can over the next 20,000 days!