Sunday, November 10, 2019

This is 35


In less than 2 weeks I will turn 35. Somedays I feel like I am 50, other days I can't believe I am no longer 21. When I was a kid I never thought I'd live to see 30. When I turned 30 I honestly felt like I was ready for adulthood and by 35 I'd have my shit together, probably have a couple of adopted african babies and driving a minivan.

Instead I'm divorced, highly allergic to any type or responsibility or commitment, and I still have no idea what I am doing with myself or my future. But on the positive side, I'm okay with all that. Over the last couple months I've begun to embrace the fact that I am middle aged. It no longer bothers me that I haven't been carded at a bar in years, or how all the college kids at the university I teach at call me "sir" on the first day of class with out checking if I am a professor or a TA. Intellectually I understand that I don't technically look like an old man, but with age comes wisdom and an aura of gravitas that others can feel. It did take me awhile to accept that I could no longer blend in with a crowd of 19 year olds because so much of my self esteem has been based on my youthful good looks. But I got over it because I finally feel like I'm a fully realized man now.

So 35, here I come! I'm ready to start monitoring my cholesterol, and watching what I eat as my metabolism slows down. I'm excited about boring my students with tales of how things were "in my day...". And most of all I am prepared and experienced with turning down all the youngins who flirt with me by letting them know I am old enough to be their father (it's a speech I have given quite a few times over the last couple years and it makes me super giddy every time.). I'm so prepared for 35, I might as well be turning 40. 👴


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday! Life gets better as you get older, not because the world around you actually changes but because you see it through a different frame.

Mike said...

Getting old is great for the spiritual and mental us, but not so great for the physical us, unfortunately!! Happy Birthday!!