Thoughts On Turning 60

Yesterday, I turned 60 and was blown away by how many people connected with me to wish me a happy birthday.  I felt amazingly blessed and deeply grateful for this gift of appreciation. I have thought a lot about this particular birthday. As a young boy, I thought anyone turning 60 was really old . . . and now I have officially arrived! But instead of focusing on this idea of feeling 'old', my dominant thought has been that about 2/3 of my life is behind me and that realistically, if I take decent care of myself, I should have about 1/3 of my life ahead of me. I find that to be very sobering and prompts me to reflect on the past while also inspiring me to lean in and forward to what lies ahead.

As I look back on my past, it has been a wonderful life. I have shared the last 39 years with a remarkable woman who continues to stir my heart and who I just can’t wait to get back to when traveling far too much. I have seen all of my four wonderful children graduate from colleges, witnessed the joyous marriages of two of my daughters, celebrated the arrival of three beautiful and healthy grandchildren, continue to bask in the blessing of my oldest daughter overcoming appendix cancer, and have enjoyed almost 20 years of getting to coach, inspire and teach remarkable leaders in a company I helped to start that continues to enjoy great success. There is truly so much to be grateful and thankful for.

And while I am so appreciative of what is behind me, I am moved to make the next thirty years even more full, rich and meaningful than the last sixty. I know that will be really hard to do as my body and mind slowly decay with each passing day. However, I think I am up to the challenge and hope that years from now as my grandchildren become adults, they will be calling their parents with stories of “Have you heard what Poppy (me) has been up to? He just never stops, does he?!”