On turning 62

Today is my 62nd birthday. As they say, it is weird being the same age as old people.

I’m not sure how I feel about being 62. Every year, I ask my dad how it feels to be his age, and he always says “It’s better than the alternative!” and I suppose that is right.

I’m grateful for a great many things this year. I still struggle with many things. But I’m here, and continuing to focus on what I can do to make the world a better place, and not focusing on things that I can’t do anything about.

If I had one thing to say about the past year it would be how the deep and profound wisdom of the Serenity Prayer has become central to who I am. I spent many years thinking it was trite and silly, but as I’ve aged, its pretty much become my whole approach to life.

In the past, I’ve spent a tremendous amount of mental energy worrying about things that I had no control over and about things that never came to pass. I have enough to worry about with what is actually in my control. Spending energy on things completely outside the realm of my influence is exhausting.

Ultimately, I think the best way to make the world a better place is to work towards making oneself a better person and not spending any time worrying about what other people are doing.

After all, you have pretty much complete control over who you are, right?