| Those
old (?) birthday blues |
I
am writing this column on my 38th birthday. No milestone
here, just another day at the office. 30, 40, 50 and 62
get all the fanfare but for those ‘tweeners? Ah, well,
who really cares? Just another day and another corny Hallmark
card.
I still remember those halcyon days of youth when a birthday
was a big deal, and not just because of parties, either.
It was memorable because you were getting “older”,you
were inching closing to that period of life which promised
to be so glorious and significant: being big!
Alas, you get “big” and all you are is..well..bigger.
This is especially true for men, watching that waistline
expand mysteriously like a weird science project. In addition,
the respect you just knew you would get as an adult can
still be elusive: your reputation depends on what you do
not how old you are. As a kid, we thought just being over
21 guaranteed some sort of status in the world. Not so,
we eventually learn, unless you’re the world’s
oldest person in a French village somewhere.
People
older than I am discover my age and laugh. “Oh, you’re
so young!” they scoff, and I feel like a kid again.
Well, not really. But it does make me wonder when that age
of arrival finally appears. I mean, when I’m 70, is
some 90-year old codger going to say, “Oh, you’re
so young!”?
I suppose you’re only as young as you feel and as
old as you are. Either that or only your hairdresser knows
for sure. Or it could be what is the sound of one hand clapping.
Could it be that I’m feeling blue on my birthday?
Am I rambling? Maybe it’s the onset of senility. But,
“I’m really so young!”
The truth of the matter is we all think about aging. We’re
all scared of it because we know we keep getting closer
to the big deadline in the sky. But as our publisher, Scott
Coopwood, has said to me, the age I’m at now is the
prime one for business and personal success. I think that’s
true in my case because I’ve settled down, I’m
secure in my career and personal life, and from here on
out it’s a matter of building on a foundation lain.
So, I’ll go home tonight, relax, play with the kids,
give Natalie a little kiss and prepare for another new day
tomorrow. I’m thankful to have that new day and as
‘ol blue eyes once crooned, the best is yet to come.
I think that’s absolutely right. If you can’t
believe in tomorrow, what can you believe, really? You’ve
got to blow out the candles and move on. DBJ
Jack
Criss
DBJ Executive Editor
