Feeling Old

Do you ever feel way older than you are?  It happens to me all the time!  As much as I try to look young and hip, the fact that I have to try (and the fact that I even used the word hip) lets me know that I am not.  Even still - most the time I feel like I'm younger than I actually am.  But then there is that occasional moment of senior citizenship that hits me and I can only shake my head.

An example... All morning today, I have been singing the classic hymn, "It Is Well With My Soul."  I'm talking singing it out loud in the car like I was the soloist at a Billy Graham crusade.

Why?  The most obvious answer is that I am an old fogey hiding in the body of a slightly younger, yet still large, dork.  But really it's just that last night I attended my step son's orchestra concert, and they played it (of course under its fancy title - On a Hymnsong), and now I can't get it out of my head.

You see, I grew up a pastor's kids in the South, and I still love me some good old Southern Gospel music.  And this fact makes me feel old too.  Who under the age of 55 still likes Southern Gospel music?  Yet, I could listen to those old quartets sing for hours.  I'm the guy those Bill Gaither TV specials are made for.  Except I won't watch them because that makes me feel old!

Not helping the feeling old problem is the fact that my wife seems to think that most of the clothes and shoes that I pick out at the store are "old man-ish."  And the scary thing is that I don't see it.  So if she is right, then I am farther gone than I think!

Add all of this to an ever expanding beer belly, an ever receding hairline, an ever increasing bald spot and ever graying hair, and I may as well sign up for AARP now.  I'm sure I would pass the interview.

So all I can do is keep holding on to the things that make me feel young.  Although, I hope I don't do this so long that it becomes embarrassing.  I'll just keep trying, while trying to mai it look like I'm not trying.  But, eventually, I will have to face the inevitable - that I have turned into my Dad.

Embrace your youth while you have it.  But remember - age is a matter of the mind... if you don't mind, it doesn't matter.  I know young people who seem incredibly old, and I know old people who can give me a run for my money.  I'd rather be the latter.