One Word: Mid-Life Perspective

I'm beginning to wonder if this word of mine - perspective - has something to do with mid-life. Is mid-50's mid-life, or am I too late?

Today I read through Keith Drury's "Happy 50th Birthday" posted on his Tuesday Column.  I'm not sure what inspired him to write it. Perhaps now that he is past this decade he can give us 50-somethings a forewarning of what to expect. Or, maybe it was a thoughtful gift for someone's 50th birthday, and knowing Keith, he decided to pass it on to the rest of us. (Keith is professor of practical ministries at Indiana Wesleyan University. His Tuesday Column has been running for at least 15 years I believe.)

I read through his 12 points mentally rating both Dennis and I in this mid-life checkup. I'm sure Dennis will appreciate that I included him. Keep in mind, Dennis is two years younger than me, so he has an advantage here. :)

1. Productivity and Influence -  Keith says the 50's could be the most productive years of life for the Kingdom. The prime years. Not too young. Not too old. I think this could very true of Dennis. I think I need to pick up the pace. The past 5 years have been transitional in several ways, thus my word "perspective" to get downright focused on the things that matter.

2. Burnout - I actually think we went through this planting a church in Houston, TX in our 20's. Hopefully we learned lessons then that will prevent that now.

3. The Great Compromise - The essence of this is that in our 50's we face the reality that maybe not all of our dreams will come true. Some people settle with that reality, and others see it as an opportunity to dream again. This line got me: People who imagine doing all kinds of interesting things in their 60's seldom do them if they haven't started them in their 50's. I think we have both realized that our dreams have been tweaked a bit, maybe a lot. What we thought was going to be a life-time of local church ministry turned into a call beyond the local church to the continent of Europe. I don't think that was ever on our radar. As for me, I've got 5 years to get things rolling to keep the 60's vibrant and fulfilling. Again, that word perspective is timely.

4. Empty nest - Yep. We've been there for 5 years now. Dennis and I got married in college between our sophomore and junior year. We had our firstborn between our junior and senior year. Did we ever have a honeymoon? The honeymoon has begun and I hope it never ends. We sold just about everything we owned to move to Europe, moved into a 1,000 sq. foot flat, we're car-less, and have the privilege of traveling throughout Europe involved in Kingdom work. I think we're making up for lost time.

5. Marital Changes - Keith says we either grow closer or further apart, but many in their 50's find marriage satisfying. In light of #4, I'd say we're getting closer and satisfied :).

6. Physical Changes - I've always felt young... until my 50's when my body began to do things out of my control. I haven't always taken to these changes very gracefully. But, I want to grow old gracefully. I want to stay as fit as possible, so I run 3x/week and exercise, try to eat right, keep myself up-to-date with the trends (but within my age limit:), and look as beautiful for Dennis as I can. As for Dennis, last year was the first I saw any gray hairs on that guy! Incredible.

Twelve points, six more to go. I'll save the second half for my next post. :) Here's to the 50's!