ACT YOUR AGE…WHATEVER IT IS

DON’T RUSH IT. DON’T RESIST IT. LIVE IT.

We spend childhood wanting to grow up…

Adulthood wishing we were younger…

And our later years remembering both.

Maybe the secret isn’t getting older or staying young.

Maybe it is learning…

TO BE FULLY ALIVE AT THE AGE YOU ARE.

ACT YOUR AGE…WHATEVER IT IS

DON’T RUSH IT. DON’T RESIST IT. LIVE IT.

I’m for kids being kids.

Why?

Because being a kid lasts such a short time…

And you don’t fully understand how short…

Until you aren’t one anymore.

So play.

Explore.

Laugh.

Ask ridiculous questions.

Get dirty.

Discover things.

Wonder about everything.

Childhood isn’t something to hurry through.

It is something to LIVE through.

TEENAGERS…GO AT IT

Now comes another remarkable stage.

You’re discovering life.

Your body.

Other people.

Relationships.

Independence.

Your talents.

Your personality.

And somewhere inside all of that…

You are beginning to ask:

WHO AM I?

Good.

Explore.

Try things.

Make some mistakes.

Learn.

Just do it responsibly.

You are beginning to discover the person who will eventually walk out into the world carrying your name.

YOUNG ADULTS…LOOK AHEAD

Eventually…

Life starts asking for decisions.

Education.

Work.

Marriage.

Relationships.

Children.

Money.

Responsibility.

Direction.

Choices begin having longer consequences.

So look ahead.

Not so far that you miss today…

But far enough to understand that today’s choices have a habit of becoming tomorrow’s circumstances.

MMMM?

Now it gets interesting.

We mature.

We establish ourselves.

Responsibilities pile up.

And somewhere along the way…

We may discover something.

There are parts of life…

We forgot to live.

Maybe we were too busy.

Too afraid.

Too responsible.

Too broke.

Too cautious.

Or simply didn’t know any better.

Then one day…

Something inside whispers:

REMEMBER ME?

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

This is where people sometimes confuse getting older…

With needing to become younger.

Not necessarily.

Maybe there is simply an unexplored part of you asking for attention.

A trip you never took.

Music you stopped playing.

A hobby abandoned.

A dream postponed.

A friendship neglected.

A motorcycle.

A sports car.

Dancing.

Painting.

Fishing.

Writing.

Whatever it is…

There is nothing wrong with visiting something you missed.

Just don’t destroy the life you built…

Trying to recover the life you didn’t live.

SPORTS CAR OR…?

We joke about the midlife crisis.

The man suddenly wants the sports car.

Changes his clothes.

Changes his hair.

Starts behaving like he’s twenty-five.

Maybe there is more going on.

Perhaps something inside is saying:

“I didn’t finish exploring.”

Okay.

Explore.

Buy the sports car if you can afford it.

Take the trip.

Learn guitar.

Grow your hair.

Cut your hair.

Go dancing.

Have some fun.

But remember…

You aren’t twenty-five.

And that’s perfectly fine.

Visit your youth…

Don’t move back there.

WORTHY NOTE

There is a difference between…

BEING YOUNG AT HEART…

And refusing…

To grow up.

GIVE MEN A PAUSE…

And women have their own seasons of reassessment.

Bodies change.

Hormones change.

Priorities change.

Relationships change.

Children grow.

Roles that once defined a person may suddenly disappear or evolve.

And sometimes a powerful question arrives:

WHAT ABOUT ME?

That’s a worthy question.

Maybe there are things still waiting to be discovered.

Explore them.

Speak up.

Change what needs changing.

Rediscover yourself.

But don’t confuse transformation…

With destruction.

You can become something new…

Without declaring war on everything old.

AHHH…THE MEMORIES

Then come the golden years.

Something rather wonderful can happen here.

The need to impress people begins losing its grip.

Comfort becomes valuable.

Consistency becomes attractive.

Peace becomes luxurious.

Memories become treasures.

You finally understand something…

That younger people may not yet understand.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO PROVE EVERYTHING.

You have already traveled roads.

Raised families.

Worked jobs.

Lost people.

Loved people.

Won some.

Lost some.

Made mistakes.

Learned lessons.

And survived things…

You once thought would finish you.

There is dignity in that.

WORTHY NOTE

Getting older…

Isn’t losing youth.

It is gaining…

The privilege…

Of having lived it.

RIGHT HERE…RIGHT NOW

So what is the best age?

The one…

You are presently living.

That’s where many of us get into trouble.

Children want to be teenagers.

Teenagers want to be adults.

Adults want to be younger.

Older people sometimes wish they could go back.

Everybody is trying…

To visit another time.

Meanwhile…

TODAY…

Is sitting there…

Waiting to be lived.

THE RICHIE REVERSE

Imagine spending your entire childhood…

Wanting adulthood.

Then spending adulthood…

Wanting childhood back.

What happened?

You missed both.

Reverse it.

When you’re young…

Be young.

When you’re building…

Build.

When you’re raising children…

Be there.

When you’re succeeding…

Enjoy it.

When you’re struggling…

Learn from it.

When you’re aging…

Age magnificently.

Every season has something…

The other seasons cannot give you.

DON’T MISS THE MARROW

How many of us understood…

The marrow of high school…

While we were actually there?

Your first love?

First job?

First automobile?

First home?

Holding your child?

Family dinners?

Parents while they were still around?

Probably not completely.

We usually recognize…

The extraordinary moments…

After they become memories.

Maybe we can get better at catching them…

BEFORE THEY LEAVE.

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL

Wherever you are…

Whatever age appears on your driver’s license…

This is your turn.

Don’t apologize for it.

Don’t rush through it.

Don’t spend it wishing for another one.

Take care of yourself.

Stay curious.

Stay responsible.

Keep learning.

Keep laughing.

Keep loving.

Keep exploring.

And occasionally…

Do something completely unexpected…

Just to remind yourself…

You’re still here.

FINAL THOUGHT

There is nothing wrong…

With remembering yesterday.

Nothing wrong…

With preparing for tomorrow.

But life…

Can only be lived…

RIGHT HERE.

RIGHT NOW.

So act your age.

Whatever it is.

And while you’re there…

ENJOY IT.

Because one day…

You may discover…

That the age you were complaining about…

Was actually…

One of the good old days.

— Richie
Pearls for the Soul
when you feed the soul, you feed everything.
https://pearlsforthesoul.com