Oh, Mylanta! I hate admitting that I’m old. No one is more shocked by the image looking back at me in the mirror than I am.

No, I’m not on my deathbed.

Yes, I might live another 20-25 years.

But I am painfully aware of an aging body and a mind that is not quite as sharp as I once pretended it to be.

So, this post is for both the older and the younger friends in my life. Understanding one another is always good.

Here are nine things you understand better when you’re oldish:

1. The gratification of growing up before you grow old and knowing the fruit of wisdom.

2. The loss you feel when you realize you simply cannot physically do everything you once did.

3. The satisfaction of surviving a thousand difficult things and growing through the struggles.

4. The frustration you have with overloaded RAM (i.e., read access memory) in your mind.

5. The fulfillment of seeing a legacy in your wake.

6. The disappointment in not being able to eat whatever you want and as much as you want. (Why is it so easy to gain weight and so hard to lose it?)

7. The joy and happiness your grandchildren bring.

8. The soberness that comes from realizing you’re on the path toward obscurity. (Very few of us make the history books.)

9. The joy of knowing deep in your knower that despite ten thousand failures, God’s love is still unstoppable.

Don’t worry. I am not depressed over the 23,321 days I’ve lived so far. God has been way too good to me to live in despair.

But the next time you see me wince when I feel an ache in my back, or you hear me completely lose my train of thought, just smile.

Remember, no one stays young forever.

Besides, I am glad to be one day closer to heaven.

Now, where did I put my glasses?

“I am not discouraged or depressed.

Yes, my body is quickly reaching its expiration date,

but my soul and spirit are renewed every day in Christ.

Besides, the struggles I face now are relatively nothing

compared to the eternal wonders that await me.

So, I’ve decided to keep my eyes on what lasts forever

rather than on the fleeting and transient.

The unseen always matters more than the seen,

and the eternal far more than the temporary.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (Bubna Paraphrase Version)