(#4584) Today I am 66 years old

      Back when I was a kid I thought that if I lived to be 55 it would be great. Back when I was a kid anyone who was 55 looked really old and had a lot of life's battle wounds for their trouble. But looking at today's population it seems that my 66 years is still on the better side of looking old. However, my life long accumulation of battle scars from work and play have me feeling very old despite my outward appearance. For me every day going forward is like dessert after dinner, what was a luxury in our hardscrabble raising.
     So I will never complain about my aches and pains as if I am deserving of anything less. I lived a hard life of rugged survival and adventure. There was no shirt and tie in my past that seated me in some comfortable chair with paper and pen. No, I worked as a logger, framing carpenter, and underground miner to name a few for a lot of my working life. My pen and paper were tools of construction and destruction. My office was all over the west coast including Hawaii and Alaska. Living as a single man who worked hard and played hard I knew I was burning my candle brightly as a younger man and surely would pay the cost as an older man.
     I did do something good for myself later in life by going back to school and elevating my educated consciousness from an ordinary mindset to a more full and rich one. So at least I didn't drive myself into an early grave then by keeping my head down and shouldering more than I could handle. Instead I rose above my labors and advanced into supervision and consultation. I am still adept at my learned crafts but my body can only take so many hours of it in a day. So I putter now with my construction skillset and hone my more mental political positions. At 66 today I am surprisingly happy and although living less than a modeled life I am content enough today.