My birthday came around again last week, on June 25 just like it has for fifty years now. Some people approach 50 with fear and dread.  Some wear black clothes and think morbid thoughts.  To me, it seemed to be a good occasion to spend some time reflecting on my personal journey.  After pondering and reflecting, I concluded that I am better at 50.

I'm better at 50 than I was at 10 when I was a snotty-nosed kid playing marbles in the yard.  Sure, life loomed large before me, but I was too busy focusing on the marbles to notice.

I'm better at 50 than I was at 20 when I was a confused student at the University of Arkansas trying to figure out what I was going to do with life.  College was a swirl of new ideas and new experiences, but all the while I was looking for a peg on which to hang the newness.

I'm better at 50 than I was at 30 when I had completed my doctorate.  With lots of book knowledge behind me, I had just begun my career, but I was still a novice at learning about people.

I'm better at 50 than I was at 40 when I was at the peak of my first career.  The internal and external pressures were causing me to come apart at the seams.  The pressure cooker would explode three years later in a classic mid-life crisis, and I would be forced to put life together all over again.

I'm better at 50
because I am happy in my family,
because I really do love my wife,
because I am proud of both my boys,
because I have completed the credentials for my new career,
because I have made some new friends who like me just for who I am,
because I have been sailing at St. Thomas,
because I am at peace with God,
because I have discovered who I really am and found that I like that person I am.

I'm better at 50 because the first fifty years were just a long apprenticeship for the enjoying of the second fifty.  The poet described it as the "last of life for which the first was made."  It takes fifty years to figure out a thing or two about life so that you can settle down and start enjoying the rest of it.

Fifty is really great because I don't have anything to prove anymore,
because I still have work challenges ahead but the end is in sight,
because I can make plans for a sailing retirement,
because I can walk contentedly into a good future,
because technology and the year 2000 bring interesting changes,
because there are still lots of good books to read (I'd rather read than eat),
because there are good movies to see,
because there are places to explore,
because there are rivers to float,
because there are lakes and even oceans to sail,
because there are people to meet,
because the next fifty are there for me to make,
because I can make them better with the lessons learned in the first fifty.

And that I intend to do.
Hey!  I'm better at 50!!!