Age And Attitude

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90:12

In his book Coming Home, James Dobson notes that Immanuel Kant wrote one of his most famous philosophical works at age seventy-four and Verdi was still composing when he was eighty-five. When Michelangelo completed The Pietà, his greatest work of art, he was eighty-seven, and Ronald Reagan was the most powerful man in the world as president of the United States at age seventy-five. Instead of sixty-five being the presumed age for retirement, it ought to be seen as the age when a lifetime of learning is focused on new achievement.

Consider the following: Moses and Aaron were over the age of eighty when they led the children of Israel out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and to the Promised Land. The fact is, the older we get, the more accumulated wisdom and perspective we should have to bring to bear on new goals. Regardless of your age, consider replacing retirement with transition in your vocabulary. See life as a continual process of moving from one accomplishment to the next with God as your guide.

Yes, age is no small part of growing old, but attitude is the largest.

Instead of counting the days, make the days count.

ANONYMOUS