It's official. Today, I'm 60 years old. It's a milestone that has certainly captured my attention. Most birthdays just pass by hardly noticed. However, this birthday has me pausing briefly to think about my 60 laps around the sun.
Sure, there have been some incredibly difficult moments during the past 21,900 days on earth. However, those are far outweighed by the countless blessings that have come my way. I am blessed beyond measure to be married to Kelley, to be a father of four, to be a stepdad to four, and to be a grandfather of five. I've accomplished far more in running than I ever imagined I could, and I've had a professional career that has used my abilities in a positive way -- most assuredly my current (and last) position as Director of Religious Education at a Catholic parish. My wife and I own a beautiful home and are blessed with very good health. God has indeed been good to me... despite the many times I've fallen short of what He, or others, would expect or desire from me. He is the ultimate Forgiving Father and it seems that I've been his Prodigal Son on more than one occasion.
Although I'm still on this journey of life (hopefully for many years to come), I'll pass along some thoughts and/or perspectives to ponder:
- Faith, Family and Fitness need to be well in focus -- and in that order.
- The "right job" is the job you love some days and can tolerate most days, and pays the bills. Hardly anyone has a job that they love every day.
- Don’t fall into the credit trap. Live within your means.
- Take care of your health. Start eating better and exercising regularly. If you put on weight now, it will be much harder to loose it later.
- Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today. Those weeds in your flower bed? Pull them out now, or in a few months there will be ten times as many of them and they’ll be five times as tall.
- Don't stop reading and learning -- especially the Bible. There's so much to know, and when we stop stimulating our minds, we become disengaged and stagnant.
- The most important person in your life is the person who agreed to share their life with you. Treat them as such.
- Children grow up way too fast. Make the most of the time you have with them.
- A friend will come running if you call them in the middle of the night; everyone else is an acquaintance.
- Your job provides the means to do what’s really important in life, nothing more. Do the job but live for your family.
- Savor every moment with grandchildren. Like children, they grow way too fast. Make sure you're available to them so that they know their grandparents.
- Don't marry too young. Learn to take care of yourself before you take on the responsibility of carrying for others.
- Go places. Do things. Pack a bag and go wherever you can afford to go. While you have no dependents, don’t buy a bunch of 'stuff.' Instead, see the world.
- If you have a dream of doing something that seems impossible, go for it anyway. It will only become more impossible as you age and become responsible for other people.
- We have an unknown amount of time on this earth. Don’t wake up and realize that you're 60 years old and haven’t done the things you dreamed about.
- When you meet someone for the first time, realize that you don't know anything about them. You see race, gender, age, clothes. Learn to look beyond those things. Biased assumptions that come into your head because of the way your brain categorizes people can limit your life, and others’ lives.
- Appreciate the small things and be present in the moment. Put the phone down at the table, at concerts, when talking with someone. Call more instead of texting. Regain true personal communication. Be present and give undivided attention.
- Marriage is not 50:50. It is 100:100. Remember that when you wake up and when you go to bed. Every day.
- Keep your word. At the end of the day, all we truly have is our faith and our integrity.
- Be kind, generous and forgiving. It will come back around to you.
- Nobody ever dies wishing they had worked more. However, too many die wishing they had spent more time with family.
- Take care of yourself, but don’t make it an obsession. Focus on your kids, but leave room in your life for yourself. Save enough money so that you’ll have enough for the future and for emergencies, but spend enough now to avoid looking back with regret.
- Collect experiences more than things.
- Remember, tomorrow is not guaranteed. All we really have is today, so we need to make the most of it.
Gotta Roll,
Paul J. Staso
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Click on any of the links below to see some of my adventure photos:
