Monday, April 6, 2009

Lady, We're All Dyin'

Aging is a funny thing.

It invariably drags you through life's various phases, without the slightest regard for your feelings in the matter. We kick and scream about it most of the time.... generally convinced that we'd be much happier in some phase other than the one we're in. However, in spite of all of our number fudging, botox, mid-life-crisis-mobiles, and fake IDs... We are where we are, and we're gonna end up where we all end up.

I was at my grocery store yesterday, and I noticed an old man checking out. He was the perfectly-cast stereotypical "grumpy old man". He used coupons adamantly, and demanded "Did you give me the discount?" after each coupon was scanned. He paid by check, of course, and certainly took his sweet time writing it. This old man was in no hurry, and paid absolutely no attention to the line forming behind him.

As I observed him with a slight grin, I thought about the phase of life that he is currently in, as well as all the phases he would have gone through before finding himself here. At one point, he would have been a young man, in a hurry to prove his worth and make a life for himself. Before that, he would have been a teenager, most likely an awkward one. Even earlier, he would have been a child... and he's old enough now, that he might have actually had a real red wagon as his favorite childhood toy.

I'd be willing to bet that in none of those phases would he have guessed that someday, he'd be the grumpy old man holding up the grocery store line. In those earlier phases, he would have been caught up in the now, just like the rest of us generally are.... Living for today, and not looking into the future with any accurate picture of what it will look like.

I don't fear age at the moment. I'm 25, and I'm blessed beyond anything I could have earned.... I feel content moving into the future. I've had a great 25 years, and I'm looking forward to at least 50 or 60 more.

I am blessed with a few dear friends that are older than me, and they give me hope that it is possible to age not only gracefully, but masterfully. Some of my guitar heroes (a few of whom I am lucky enough to call friends) are of particular inspiration to me. If I'm half as cool as Randy Williams, Barry Graul, or Stu G when I'm their age, I'll be doing pretty darn well.

Bring on the years. Bring on the grey hairs and wrinkles. I'm not worn out yet.

j.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Randy Williams, that's Jeremy Camp's guitarist right?...

...or who? lol

beffy said...

Jon, your blogs always make me smile! Keep going!

Anonymous said...

this is my favorite of all your blogs thus far :)

Anonymous said...

Very deep Jon!! Im trying to enjoy life one step at a time- not scared of the future- just scared of how fast its going :)

AlotlikeKARA said...

Very deep and very true.
My favorite blog thus far.
made me smile ;D

God has blessed you greatly.

Christine said...

wow that's a sad reality. lol!

and anonymous #1, that's what came into my head too when he mentioned the name, though i am not exactly sure... lol...

jonathan said...

yep... randy williams is jeremy camp's guitar player... he's one of my good friends...

graciegirl said...

you seem alot more enthusiastic than i am about this sort of stuff! i hope ill actually get to a point where it wont bother me like it does others. you seem to have no problem with that. i wish i was the same! hehe. ah well..... hopefully this will all make more sense when im older....... maybe :)

Unknown said...

2 out of 3 of your heros don't have any hair ;)

Ida said...

Jon you're a genius. That blog was one of the few constant reminders we get to live in the now. So many times people forget to live in the day and not in the future, me especially.

Jon you're one of my guitar heroes!

elysiabm said...

Old people are always interesting...they all seem to either be really grumpy or really sweet, never in between.
I enjoy reading your blogs, keep it up! :)

Elizabeth said...

I can't wait to drive. enough said. only one more year, then I can start worrying about getting older. some of my favorite people are 70 going on 27 though, so I'm not to worried, especially since I really believe in living for the day and stuff.