102? You Must Be Kidding!

My friend Reg Wilson delivered a wake-up call this week.  It's not the first he's handed me in our 30+ years of friendship but this one really has me thinking.

He sent me a link that asks several questions and then delivers an estimated longevity.  Mine showed up as 102!  Here's the link if you want to try yours. https://www.livingto100.com/calculator/age

I'm very healthy so I've assumed that I would live well into my 80s or 90s … but 102?  Even knocking off a few years, that's 30+ years … long enough to learn to play a musical instrument or another language, long enough to read and re-read the classics, make a lot of new friends (and probably lose a lot of old ones), see my granddaughters reach adulthood, and smell a whole lot of roses.

Of course, we never know how long we have to live but the thought that I possibly have another 30 years is really making me stop and think about what I want to do with them.  It's an interesting question because, even when the words are not actually spoken, the social expectation is that those of a certain age will … relax and enjoy our leisure years … take it easy, rest, travel, play with the grandkids … slow down, take care of ourselves, get our affairs in order.

However, 30 years is a lot of time to basically drift carefree through our senior years.  I don't want a job but I do want a purpose. I don't want my days filled with other people's agendas, but I do want to wake up with something juicy pulling me into action.

For years I've struggled with the DO-BE conundrum.  Are we "human doers" or "human beings?" I think it is important to be in the present, to be grateful for everything in our lives, to be loving and kind toward all … however, I think this earth passage is a time for doing. We're in a physical incarnation that allows us to turn the soil in order to create food and flowers, build bridges that connect one land to another, write words that open minds and touch hearts, generate ideas that transform problems into solutions, raise children so full of confidence and love that they can march boldly into the world asking, "What do you need for me to do?"

I'm in the center of a roundabout … you know, those confusing, although highly effective, traffic control devices where you enter at one point and exit later in the direction of your destination … or drive round and round the middle not going anywhere.  I'm circling and keep seeing exit possibilities and waiting for one to light up and say, "this way please."

Now that I'm told I have 30 more years to explore the possibilities, maybe it's not about choosing the "right one;" perhaps it's just about choosing one and going all the way to the end of that particular path, knowing that, statistically at least, I'll have time to come back and do another one later.

What do you think about your last 30 years … or whatever number your age calculator spits out?   In the meantime, I'm asking the Universe, "What do you need for me to do?"