{"id":5179,"date":"2012-12-06T00:02:16","date_gmt":"2012-12-06T08:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/?p=5179"},"modified":"2012-12-06T00:02:16","modified_gmt":"2012-12-06T08:02:16","slug":"musings-on-being-age-69","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/2012\/12\/06\/musings-on-being-age-69\/","title":{"rendered":"Musings on Being Age 69"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>In “level state” in Mexico, this year<\/em><\/h6>\n

I’ve been realizing for some time that I’m in what I’m can only describe as a level state of contentment and happiness.<\/p>\n

In many ways it’s been so all along; I’ve been happy mostly, and content.<\/p>\n

Once, some years back, I told a friend, \u201cI have everything I want, except the fulfillment of my goals.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

That seemed to be about as good as it gets, since a person needs to have goals, and a goal isn’t a goal if it’s\u00a0already been met.<\/p>\n

What I’m beginning to realize now, however, is the “level state,”<\/strong> a relaxation on even the goals.<\/p>\n

Is this natural? Is it something that comes from being 69 years old . . . which seems like a very high number when inside I feel no different than when I was 39?<\/p>\n

A 1-Day Mid-Life Crisis<\/h3>\n

But there is a difference, and that’s what I’m describing. I remember that year in particular, or rather one day of that year. That’s when I looked at my life and experienced a mid-life crisis that lasted one day.<\/p>\n

Actually it was the day before I would turn 39 that it happened. I suddenly saw my 39th birthday approaching which meant it was only a year until I would turn 40. Forty seemed like the classic age by which something major should be accomplished, and I knew that one year would not be long enough to accomplish anything significant. I sensed panic, and despair. I experienced intensely what I’d heard and read others around this age experience, sometimes for a very long period, and sometimes manifesting in some very erratic actions. I suddenly understood it, and sympathized. It was no laughing matter.<\/p>\n

By the end of the day, however, I began to regain equilibrium. I reminded myself that in fact I had done a few things, things big enough to have satisfied at least mid-level goals, and that time was not \u201cup;\u201d there would be years enough to get a few more things in. With that, I relaxed. My mid-life crisis, intense as it was, had lasted just one day.<\/p>\n

That was 30 years ago. I suppose I could recount what I’ve been able to experience since then which I or somebody might call \u201csignificant.\u201d But in fact that exercise doesn’t interest me much. We live in the present.<\/p>\n

We live in the present<\/h3>\n

The difference between then and now, as I started out to say, is that now I’m not sensing any particular unmet goals. And I’m satisfied with that.<\/p>\n

We have plans, to be sure, but generally not more than a few months out, or weeks. Every day I wake with a sense of focus for that day. There’s rarely\u2014actually never\u2014any down time. The hours are all full, and pretty much with what I want to do. We’re busy. And happy to be. It’s a gift of God.<\/p>\n

Is this maturing of life beyond goals<\/em> also a gift of God?<\/p>\n

Don’t misinterpret; I know there are areas of my life that could go a lot farther. Areas of generativity, of perspective, of patience, and all the spiritual areas. And I’m interested in their pursuit. But these are not goals,<\/em> per se, as they will never be met.<\/p>\n

Why we work<\/h3>\n

Today I flipped open to a page of a book I’ve only flipped through before. On the cover is a label describing it as \u201cThe Number One Business Book of the Year!\u201d The page I came to was about \u201cthe purpose of a business,\u201d where the author says the purpose of owning a business is quite different from the purpose of the business itself. The purpose of a business is basically to acquire customers, to retain customers, and make a profit<\/em>. But the reason for wanting to own a business, he says, is to create a lifestyle for oneself.<\/em>*<\/p>\n

And that’s when I saw clearly that the lifestyle I would create for myself is the one I’m living now.\u00a0That is, the list of things that I want and the list of things I have are the same list.<\/p>\n

This didn’t start out to be a meditation Ecclesiastes 11:8, but it fits:
\nHowever many years a man may live, let him enjoy them all.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tomorrow I’ll share my list.<\/p>\n

Feel free to comment.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

___________________<\/p>\n

*Making Money is Killing Your Business<\/em>, by Chuck Blakeman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here’s the first half of a personal reflection about the state of growth at a certain age. You might find it useful, whatever your stage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5179"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5179"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5227,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5179\/revisions\/5227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}