Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.

"Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears." - John Lennon

“Do not complain about getting old. It is a privilege denied to many.” - Mark Twain

I went to bed the other night, a young man of twenty-two, with dreams of the future, wondering what life would bring me during my lifetime. When I awoke the next morning, I looked in the mirror at the face of a seventy-two year old man, wondering how the days, months and years could have flown by so swiftly. You may say, I sound like a man who has regrets, but actually, I really treasure my life and all that it has afforded me. I have spent the last 49 years with a woman whose love I cherish; I have three adult sons who make me proud to be their father. I have two beautiful grandchildren who I know will make lasting contributions to our world, and I live in a community that I love, and that I have the privilege to serve.

My life has also enriched me with many wonderful friends, any of whom I can call when in need and they will be there to assist me. I treasure all that life has given me over my seventy-two years, and except for wondering now and then how it all seemed to happen in a blink of an eye, I am grateful for the chance to wake up each morning and celebrate another day. There are many, who as Twain states, do not have the “privilege” of growing older, at being able to see the beauty of the world through a set of lenses forged by the experiences of life.

Let me share with you an example of what I mean. Recently, I joined a group of classmates from my elementary school years for lunch, where, besides discussing our new medications and our bone replacements, we reminisced about our elementary school years. We shared great stories, and before we were done with lunch, we decided to plan a reunion, a fifty-eight year get together of our former classmates. As planning progressed, I was assigned the task of putting together a “memorial” page containing the pictures of all the classmates we have lost over the years. As I was completing this task, and looking at each one of their pictures, it occurred to me that each one of them was denied the privilege of growing older. Several died at such a young age they never had a chance to see their children grow, while others never would meet their grandchildren. That is when it occurred to me that while I might have awaken a seventy-two year old man, like George Bailey, I have had a “wonderful life;” one I will always treasure, without regrets.

Don’t look in the mirror and begrudge the impact life has on each of us as we grow older, rather, we need to look at that person in the mirror and as Lennon states, “Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.”