You Know You Are Old When….
Jun 6th, 2008 by alyoung
I have never considered myself being old despite being told by several people that I am old. Still certain events happen in life that make me think that I may not be as young and spry as I used to be. Here are some signs that you are aging:
Kids: Nothing reminds you more that you are aging than watching your kids grow up. My oldest graduates from kindergarten next week. Just like that I have aged nearly 6 years since my son was born. It is hard to believe time has went by so fast. Its just not my kids that remind me of how old I am. Over the next few months kids I knew just as toddlers will be graduating from college and even getting married. Soon they will be having kids of their own. Even kids I don’t know remind me of how old I am. The recent news that Zac Hanson one of the Hanson Brothers is expecting his first child also was a reminder of my age. If you don’t know who the Hanson Brothers are you are older than me. They sang “Mmmbop” which is destined to be the Rickrolled of its era. Here is a reminder.
Movies or Phrases: You know you are getting older when people do not know what the phrases you are using or the movies you are referencing. Recently I said to a young lady “Hello McFly” and she had no idea what I was talking about. She had maybe heard of the Back to the Future movies but does not remember seeing them. I guess she would not know what a Deloren is either. It might as well have been a black and white movie to her.
High School Friends: Not only kids remind you of how old your are but your own peers also remind you of your age. Recently I ran into some friends high school I have not seen in quite awhile. After talking with them I remarked on how old they looked. Than it hit me that if they look that old how old do I look? We are the same age. That forced me to take a long look in the mirror and conclude that maybe I have not aged as gracefully as I thought.
Physical Injury: If you kids and peers don’t remind you of how old you are, it is only a matter of time before your own body tells you. At our church family camp a few weeks ago I was shooting baskets in the gym with my son on some lowered baskets. A high school kid took the basketball jumped up against the wall behind the basket and dunked the ball. This was on a lowered basket but it was enough to impress my son. “Wow can you do that Dad”? Without thinking I said “sure” and took off with the basketball. As I jumped onto the wall I did not get the elevation I thought I was going to get. I also did not get the push I thought I was going to get off the wall. Instead I felt a pull….on my hamstring. Instead of elevating to the basket I was free-falling awkwardly toward the floor. I landed on my side and banged my elbow on the hard gym floor. With my son looking over me I wondered what went wrong. I thought my body could still perform like that high school kid but maybe not anymore. If every time you don’t stretch for a good 15 minutes before exercising and you immediately injure yourself you are probably old.
“Kids Today”: I have caught myself using the phrase “kids today” more and more often these days. Usually while shaking my head. Well if you use this phrase often chances are that you are not young. If you were you would be one of the kids instead of complaining about them.
If you can identify with one or more of these things, I hate to break it to you but chances are you are probably not as young as you thought you were. You probably already know that but chose to not believe it as I did until the hard facts force you to accept it. So I am not as young as I once was. Who is? But maybe I am a little more mature, experienced, and polished? Still I’m not as old as some people.
