I can’t really say what joyousness is to be expected about living in the realm of middle-lifehood.  I’m new to it.  I can say that other people seem always to be complaining about it, which I think is odd.  I’ve been telling people how excited I am to finally be old, because I am excited.  Now I can say and do things that I couldn’t do as my younger self, like tell folks I can’t be out late because I’m old and tired, drive slowly in the fast lane, or get up way too early on a Wednesday to do the grocery shopping.  (Let’s be honest, I’ve been doing most of these things for a while now, so not much will change.)

But even more exciting than any of that nonsense is the dating pool joke from Randall Munroe over at xkcd.  I get a kick out of every time I see it, so I’m sharing it here today with you.  It’s like a re-gift, except it wasn’t given directly to me, but, still, I choose to share it with you.

The downside to joking back with people calling me old is that when I tell them I’m excited about it, they get on about how I’m not really _that_ old.  It’s like they want to screw around either which way, but won’t just let me enjoy myself.  Sure, I’m not old, I am old, I’m whatever anyone needs me to be when it comes to defining age and body aches.  I’m up for the whole game.

So if this truly is the middle, then let me take a second and say thanks to all the folks that I’ve had the opportunity to meet, greet, and befriend during the first half of my existence.  I’ll be honest again and say it’s been a handful of head-smashingly strange times, but a perfect hoot.

Cheers!

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The Joy Of Entering Middle Life was first posted to justinll.com on December 22, 2008.