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| Photo: Dimitar Nikolov |
. The premise is pretty simple – players advance on a game board by naming 5 items on a list from a card they draw.A timer is involved, so that pretty much kills my chances of doing well because my brain just can’t recall specifics when a timer is ticking, but the game is a lot of fun.
We’ve played it a couple of times since I got it and both times I heard several topics that would be good blogging fodder, especially since I wouldn't be on the timer. Over the weekend I jotted down quite few of those topics and plan to blog about them.
The first one is – name 5 good things about getting older.
1. The lows aren’t as low as they used to be. I’ve never been an overly emotional person, outwardly, but internally, when I was younger, nearly every bump in the road felt like a crisis and when a genuine crisis occurred, I didn't think I would survive it. I'm just talking about the typical teenage angst – girls, popularity, sports. With age came perspective though. By surviving previous trials, I know that somehow I'll survive new ones too.
2. Having a core set of people you can trust. More than half of my closest friends are the result of friendships formed in high school. I know they are going to be present when I need them to be and I think they can same the same about me. We’ve seen the best of worst in each other, but still, the friendships remain. That’s not often the case younger in life – when so many relationships are based on performance.
3. Entertainment is more about the people you are with than the activity. The question that never changes is – what do you want to do? In high school, we went cruising, attended dances, went to football games and listened to music together. The event was necessary. Now, I go to coffee shops, go to movies, go to sporting events and a few other things, but mostly, the events are just the backdrop.
4. Having the ability to look backward and forward. I had a conversation with one of my niece’s the other day. She’s 20 and trying to figure out her place in the world. I told her about the hardships the previous generations in our family endured so my generation and hers would have more opportunities. I wanted her to know that her generation doesn’t exist in a void.
5. Digging deeper instead of wider. When I was a boy, I wanted to become a football player, a tennis player or a rock star when I grew up. I was also into stamp collecting, rock collecting (for about two hours), coin collecting, baseball card collecting, and lots of other things. My passions aren’t spread as thin anymore. Today, I read every book a favorite author writes. I listen to entire albums, not just the hit songs. I put my feet up and turn everything off sometimes, just to think. Depth is more satisfying.
How about you? Can you name 5 good things about getting older? Take all the time you need. I won't even start the timer.
