70 Isn't 40

Just a few varieties.

SPAMtown was my address thirty years ago. My spouse had a meaningful job, I was in a residency year at the Mayo Medical Center, and the daughters were involved in school. The commute from Austin to Rochester, Minnesota was far more scenic than the flatlands of the Red River Valley. Opposite ends of the state, as well as opposite outlooks on the future.

The recognition of my fortieth birthday was a surprise event. I was positively impacted by the friends who traveled to mark this occasion. I was also apprehensive about the future. At midlife I was making an uncertain shift in my career focus. Leaving parish ministry behind, I was in a Clinical Pastoral Education residency program. The training provided national qualification and recognition as a Chaplain, but little else. There was no guarantee of employment once the training concluded. With young children, a single income, and more transitions in the future, there was no inkling of security. Forty was a fretful experience. 

Running scared

At seventy the future is less fretful. The worries are in the past. There are no surprises kept nor next day clean-up with which to contend. I have a deeper sense of security because all that is yet to come is death. Yes, that word is complex and numerous emotions are attached to it. However, I now see it as more inevitable and less disruptive than at forty. I am not certain how it will present itself, but it will happen. I am unable to change it.

As humans we prioritize security. In other words, if we can control the external, the internal sense of well-being should ensue. Yet our society thrives on promoting insecurity. There is never enough. Cameras are more important than doorbells because people come to steal not visit. We divide into factions. We are fearful that someone else may get what we deserve. We speak of wanting change and vote for change. Change often means returning to what was seemingly secure in the past. We want change to benefit ourselves at the expense of others.  For our businesses, governments, and healthcare institutions to maintain their status they need to promote a fretful future which only they can control. 

Wisdom and guiding principles flicker like candles in the wind. Like all things in life they are tested, used, and suspended. Yet if they endure through time and regularly return to our mind, then it must carry wisdom. These words of the late educator and author, Stephen R Covey have served and continue to serve me well, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." These words evoke reflection, exploration, timeliness, and thoughtfulness. At points in my life the main thing became getting ahead, achieving status, and being recognized. I don't believe I ever achieved those things. If I did, I wasn't satisfied. The

Satisfied in all seasons

overarching main thing which I have finally come to accept is to marvel at creation, accept human nature, and embrace what is. I feel secure in life, but not invincible. I enjoy life while not being fretful of death. Seventy isn't forty. I'm satisfied.