The Big One This Instant!

The Big One

I must officially be an adult. Birthdays are no longer something to look forward to.

My next one looms large. It has been staring me down since about 11 months ago when I turned my current age. (I refuse to list specific numbers in this article so you can freely insert your own scary age, whatever it may be, and more easily relate with what I have to say. Okay, that’s not true. I just don’t want to tell you how old I’ll be. See? Proof of adulthood.)

Because I was “young for my grade” in school, I’ve been celebrating my friends’ Big Ones all year long. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed asking them what it’s like “up there.” But I can’t deny it any longer. My time, too, has come.

The other day a piñata in the shape of those two dirty digits was sitting on a coworker’s desk as she prepared to throw her friend a surprise party. It wasn’t my piñata, but it just might as well have been.

“Put that I away!” I cried. “Ugly number. Bad, bad, stupid number.” Followed by further moping and mumbling.

Another (older, wiser) coworker overheard me and stopped me in my tracks. “Okay, Jodi, let me put it this way. You have a choice here! Either you turn XX (dreaded number) … or (insert dramatic pause) … you DON’T.”

I stopped. I stared. And I burst out laughing.

She had a point. I was whining about something that wasn’t going to change. And if it did change, well, the alternative was even worse. I could be dead.

Are you fighting XX – perhaps your age or some other less-than-desirable circumstance – in your life right now? When irreversible things happen regardless of your opinion on the matter, do you act like your negative attitude is also unchangeable? What if, no matter how sour your face, combative your fight, or grim your outlook, you discovered the silver lining? What if, in the midst of the dreaded, you chose the beautiful?

“For the despondent, every day brings trouble; for the happy heart, life is a continual feast.” Proverbs 15:15

“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” Philippians 4:11