The good old days! Or the good old days?

It's funny how life changes as you get older...

When you were a child, you ran around naked and no one thought funny of you. You got to wet your bed without shame or write on the walls with crayons and grown-ups just laughed. Once I even tried to burn my parents’ house down. Ok, I got a little smack for that but the juice was worth the squeeze. As a child, you generally didn't have a care in the world. A bad day was when you had to share your sweets with your brother or you didn't get to sit in the front seat.

A few blinks later and you’re a few years older. Suddenly you’re too young to do the real fun things. There are R-rated movies on TV you can't watch. Your room door has to stay open when a girl visits. You’re not allowed to drink, or drive (legally anyway and please note "or" as opposed to "and"). Going to school is like kissing you're sister, you never have your own money and if you do anything wrong you get moaned at like a red-headed step-child. Yeah, suddenly you wanna grow up and be free.

And then you do and you are. Enter adulthood. Jackpot baby. Well kinda. You get to drink like a sailor but your boss isn't as friendly as those girls you bought tequilas for last night when you happen to arrive late for work. And it's expensive. Knee surgery costs less but it's fun and this is what you're supposed to be doing at this age. Besides, you finally earn your own money although you quickly find out that the more you earn, you more you spend. So close yet so far.

Bless my little trip down memory lane but I have a point to make. Having turned twenty-seven (27) just over a month ago, life is finally sinking in. The thing about your first twenty-five or so years is that they're awkward (at least mine were). You're an adult but not really. And then sometime after that the penny drops; you realize that being an adult is totally different to how you thought it was going to be and that's quite alright. You begin to understand that you're constantly working toward something and you never really "arrive". You only ever trade one phase of life for another. So while the good old days really were the good old days and it's good to be sentimental about your past, you have an equal responsibility to work toward the future while never forgetting to enjoy the present. Tender and touching, isn't it? 

It is. Which is why I would like to use this blog post to pay homage. True story. Without further ado...

Here's to my very decorated past. It was bundle of mad, crazy and insane rolled into one but I loved it. With hindsight being a perfect science, I made some really silly mistakes but I have learned. My past has helped me but it's not what I am. I certainly have some great stories for the grandkids later on.

Here's to my very bright future. May I look back at the past, learn from it, be sentimental about it and then let it go. Here's to health, wealth, prosperity, a God-send of a family and maybe even a six-pack.

And finally, here's to my now. Now is the past and the future. May I enjoy the now and make the most of the now so that I don't look back and regret; may I make the most of now so my your future stays bright. Now is here for a second and then forever done. May God bless the now.

I guess that means I better get started on that six pack now...