Forty-something

I have been facing some realities lately. I am a "forty-something." I have good days and bad days. Most of the time, I feel great. I feel like the world is yet mine to conquer. Then I got a phone call from an old high school friend the other day. It went something like this:

Me: Hey, man! How long has it been?

Him: Ummm...about 25 years.

Me: No way.

Him: Yeah, that's about right.

Me: That is not possible!

Him: Yeah it is. It's been awhile since you were blowing on the tuba.

Me: Wow...

Then I saw another lifelong pal today and we were talking about how much fun our 20 year reunion party was, and then it occurred to both of us that number 25 is coming up...soon. Like...next year.

Whoa.

A couple more realities have begun to settle in:

• My son is graduating next year.
• My stepdaughter is graduating next year.
• My nephew and nice are graduating next year.
• Most of the people I work with were born AFTER I graduated high school.
• Most of our customers were born AFTER I graduated high school.
• Everything I like is now referred to as "old school."
• I am forty-something.

Okay, so here's the deal. I am not depressed about being in my 40's. As I said, most days I feel like the world is yet mine to conquer. But sometimes I do get a bit overwhelmed when I realize how much water under the bridge there actually is.

When I stop to really think about it, I have had a pretty decent life. I have met and (hopefully) positively impacted a lot of people. I have nearly 800 Facebook friends. I haven't made many enemies, and closest friends are people who have shared a good chunk of my forty-something years with me.

But, oh, to be 25 again and know what I know now...

How utterly cliche'.