Wow! It’s hard to believe that another year has come and gone. I thank the powers that be that have allowed me to enjoy another birthday. Today I turned 46. And with that comes the strange dichotomy that has been my life. For the first half of my life, I truly believed that I would not make it to my 40th birthday. You can blame that on the fact that the men in my family usually don’t die quietly in their sleep in their late nineties. The fact that I have drank enough liquor and ingested enough drugs in my lifetime and am still alive is something for Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Throw in two deccades of smoking Newports, it’s a wonder that my lungs still function.
I had a strange realization today. My life is half over. I am on the down side. The ski lift has dropped me off at the top of the mountain and will not be making a round trip. If I make it to 92 I promise to take back everything mean I have said about religion and God over the years. Meaning that, I will quickly embrace His ass in a last ditch attempt to get into heaven. Because if I make it to 92 then there must be a heaven and a God. Funny thoughts for a guy who has spent the better part of his life not giving a shit about the consequences of his actions.
But as I enter the second half of my life, or more appropriateltly, the third trimester, I am forced to now consider the consequences of my actions. Should I make any appreciative changes in my life? That’s a tough question. For I am a hedonist and I enjoy pleasure. In fact, I’d almost argue that I am an epicurian, that is, there are different degress of pleasure that one can enjoy. There is no need to list the order in which they fall but anyone with a vivid imagination can surely discern the order in which they fall.
Should I be fortunate enough to reach my 47th birthday, I wonder if I’ll have this conversation with myself again. I am sure to go through all of the philosophical arguments about whether to make drastic changes in my life to ensure that I can in effect, prolong it. But in the end, a leopard cannot change his spots. I have this one life to live and I only know how to live it one way. I’ve done alright to this point and if I’ve gotten this far, why change? The day I change might just be the day I die! Happy birthday to me…
Filed under: Family, Humor and Satire , birthday, epicurian, hedonist, nick hardy
Happy BD EE. Hope it was a good one and you have many more returns.
Happy birthday Nick!
You’ve still got a few good years! I didn’t begin to notice the effects of geezerdom until about 55.
Here’s your geezerdom birthday joke:
A senior asks whether, at this age, he should wear boxers or briefs.
Answer: Depends…
Thanks guys. It was a good day indeed! I hope I never have to ask or answer that question Anarchist.