Growing Up, Remembering How to Laugh

It’s that time of year, a special time of year for me. Not Christmas but my birthday. And this year I celebrated one of those dreaded decade birthdays, I am now 50. Myself, these birthdays don’t seem like that a big deal but it is a marking of the passage of time. This year was also one filled with a lot of activity. My family sold and bought a new house, there have been changes in the business I’m involved with and I have grown in some of my viewpoints. Add in the supposed end of the Mayan calendar and it all makes for an interesting time of year.

But in the end, what does it all mean to me? It’s a time to reflect on whether I’ve actually improved or if I’m still stuck in  a rut. Too often I feel that I’m in that well known rut but this year I feel like I have made some progress. And oddly enough I feel like I have finally become a grown up, an adult. I find myself taking responsibility more seriously and understanding why I need to do those tedious tasks that are part of everyday life. I suspect having to clean up one house in order to sell helped me to see how important the little things can be when they aren’t done often enough. So in our new house I want to create new habits to take care of things which means not quite so much time spent on other items. I can also see that I need to remember to laugh. With the times we are currently in, with all of the challenges it can be all too easy to be serious, to be adult and to forget that life is also to be enjoyed. And I tend to be much too serious as it is.

I thought of this after my birthday call with my brother. Ten years ago he called and teased me about turning 40. When he turned 40 three years later it was my turn to tease him. On my 50th birthday we talked about our work, our kids and life in general but no teasing. We were both busy being adults which I find a little sad. Not that I want to be teased all of the time but I need to be reminded that I shouldn’t take myself too seriously. Heyokah, after all, I am my biggest joke on myself. With that, I hope everyone has a cleaner 2013 as we all move onto new endeavors and new ways of doing things. Just remember to laugh and be silly as we all grow up a bit.