AT sag TeH agAeT
JEREMY CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW HIS CARES ARE GONE
They say with age comes wisdom. I’m not fully convinced of that. Maybe I’m not quite old enough to get that particular gift, or perhaps someone sent it to me at an old address and it hasn’t been forwarded on. Either way, I remain pretty much just as thick as I was the day before my recent birthday.
This is not a bad thing – my particular version of ignorance is quite blissful, thanks! I had a great birthday. And not just because the kids gave me lots of gifts they wanted.
It was because I’ve somehow managed to reach an age where happiness is not something you chase down and achieve, but more of a lens you put over whatever happens to be going on at the time.
Case in point: the major event of the day was taking our youngest daughter to the dentist for her first filling. Some might see that as rather traumatic; something that would cast a shadow over what should be a special day. Not me. I quite enjoyed it as a birthday treat.
Not my daughter’s discomfort, of course, but the fact we turned it into a type of family outing and I got some post-filling photos of her face drooping on one side. She’ll enjoy looking back on those in later life. Or she’ll hate me for it. Either way, it’s a type of bonding.
That’s where I find the good these days – in what happens rather than what I can make happen. It takes way less effort and is just as rewarding. Try it, there are many upsides.
For instance, due to my new life attitude, I no longer suffer FOMO, the fear of missing out. I’m glad when I can sit at home rather than be forced to go somewhere. Instead,
I have a fear of being invited, or FOBI as the kids call it.
I’m not a fan of
Facebook, but if Zuckerberg had just stuck to making people’s birthdays brighter,
I’d sing its praises.
Spurred on by my wife, I grumbled as I made my annual pilgrimage to the crowded cyber streets of the big blue ‘F’, but I must confess it made me happy to see birthday wishes from friends old, new and random.
I thank those people and apologise now for not returning the favour. Every year I have the best intentions, but my mental attitude means I’m not so much Facebook as Faceaway.
But it’s not all one-way traffic. I’m a far more reliable person these days. Not because I try harder and make sure I don’t break my promises, but because I simply don’t promise as much. Happiness all round.
This stage of life is such a revelation, I feel we need to give it a name so people can call it something as they aspire to it. We go through our tweens, teens, twenties, thirties and midlife, but somewhere after that comes the awesome era of Dontcare, Givenup or That’lldo.
I suspect whatever we decide to call it, I’ll be happy.