I Turned 45 Today!

by Diane Carlisle

I didn't think I'd ever have the opportunity to speak those words. Or, in this case, should I say write them? It's one of those things you never think about when you're 18 or so. You don't just wake up on a given morning and go, "Wow, one day I'm going to be old." It just sort of happens to you. But funny thing is, when you turn 45, you actually do look ahead 10 and 20 years, because now you're looking at retirement, and a few more of those pesky wrinkles.

Did you know God created us in a way such that our eyes go bad right around the same time we start noticing the fine lines? Yes, you actually look a lot worse than what you're seeing in the mirror. God has compassion. My eye doctor called the other day to remind me that it's time for my annual eye exam. I said, "No it's not, I'm fine!"

But I'm not going to think about that today. Today is my birthday and so I'm going to celebrate by listing a few things in my life for which I've been truly grateful.

1. My husband. Because no matter how old I get, he'll always be 8 years older. I just need to keep him young and healthy so that I die before he does.

2. My children. Thank goodness I endured having them AND raising them. When you get to be my age, you appreciate that you have adult children around who can take care of you when you can't take care of yourself anymore.

3. My college degree. I was going to save the world from that Y2K bug. Remember that? I graduated with my Computer Science degree in 1998. I was ready for them to unleash the beast unto the world so that I may slay it and be truly worthy. Nothing glorious there, just a lot of painfully monotonous coding and testing.

4. My sister. Because she is 11 months older than I am so we're always the same age on my birthday and remain so for about three weeks. I won't ask her what it feels like turning 46. I'll just wait it out until next year. It just makes me feel better when I can see that she isn't totally freaking out over it.

5. My adversities in life. I wouldn't have made it this far if I didn't have challenges pushing me forward and people getting in the way of my success. I've had to change and adapt to all sorts of life's nuances and having done so, I realize that my ideals of yesterday were never meant to be because they would not have served me well today. My success is what I have now. Everything else positive that comes my way is just icing on the cake.

Have a great day!