Today's The Day

OMG!! IT has finally happened! Half a Century! Damn, I'm old! "Old as Mold." "It's the BIG one!" "If you were a horse, they'd shoot you!" "If you were a car, you'd be an antique!" "Over the Hill!" These were just some of the sayings that waited my return from lunch the other day at work. To my surprise, the clerical staff got me! I thought because I'd be off on my actual birthday, I would be spared the tradition that has awaited staff in my office for a few years now: the "trashing" of the office/cubicle with the announcement of "THE BIG ONE!"

But it was inevitable. And as I always have heard, "Age is just a number." Believe me, most days I don't feel 50! On some I feel 150! However, most times I feel pretty damned good! Thank God I don't look 50!

50 years of learning! Patience has been one of them! I got a new computer about 2 weeks ago, and guess what? It's still sitting right here next to me in the box! In my earlier years, I would have torn the thing open and thrown it together, cursing and screaming the whole time because it wasn't fitting together just right! Not this year! I will probably set the computer up tomorrow, taking my time, reading the directions, and hopefully making the entire process much simpler and easier. Besides, I needed a new computer desk for this one too. So before I even attempt to take it out of the box, everything needs to be ready. I will be setting up a wireless Internet system also, so I have to do it right this time!

"Don't sweat the small stuff!" That's another thing I've learned over the past years. Life is too short to be worrying about the little stuff that happens. Sh** happens and there's nothing we can do about it anyway, so why let it bother us? It is what it is! Move on and leave it behind. There's too much important stuff happening to sweat the small stuff. The trick is to learn what is the small stuff and what is the big stuff. Everyday I run into people or situations that help me realize the difference between the small and big stuff. Someone battling cancer; that's a BIG thing! Someone who can't walk; that's another BIG thing! Someone who's house just burned down and all their belongings were inside; that's a BIG thing! Whether or not I'm going to get to the party on time; that's a very very small thing! What will I eat for dinner tonight; another small thing! See, it's not that hard to distinguish BIG from small.

Now that I am 50, I guess I can start to say whatever I want. I can tell people what I am really thinking! Nah! I won't be ignorant with people, but I am 50, so I'll do what makes me happy! Just watch out next 50 years!