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Perfectly 35

Over the past few weeks, I've spent a lot of time thinking about this stage of life.  About where I am at the age of 35, not always certain where I fit in, how I should dress, how many kids we should have, how much money I should be making, how many friends we should have and how much time to spend with them, and about how I feel caught in the middle of a lot of different things.  I almost began having my own little pity party trying to figure out if I'm successful, happy, or living up to what the standards are for people my age.

Then today it finally hit me.  Instead of looking at my life and letting it get me down because I'm stuck in the middle, I should be remarkably grateful to be placed right in the middle.  My perspective began to shift.

Thinking about my career...I'm not I'm not the senior person at work, but not the new guy either.  I am perfectly in the middle.  I have some good experience that I can pull from and a long prosperous future to look forward to and enjoy.

Britt and I aren't newly weds, nor are we the couple that has the 20, 30, or 40 year history.  We are perfectly in the middle.  We have endured some trials and our relationship and trust is stronger because of them.  Yet we are still young enough that that flame is still burning...when kids will cooperate with sleep patterns anyway (TMI I know so we'll leave it at that).

No, I don't have all the money and stuff that some people do.  But I also don't have the stress, the headaches, the debt, the repairs and taxes that go along with so much stuff.  We have the perfect balance of all we need any plenty of wants to keep us perfectly happy.

No, I don't have the most friends or spend the most time hanging out with the guys.  But I have some friends that if I called at 3 AM, they'd be there.  And I have a son and daughter that to see them laugh and smile means more to me than any of the stories my old friends and I can share (and we have some good ones).   Honestly, the balance between family and friends is probably the most difficult to attempt to sort out for me.  So I am loving that those are starting to become more integrated by building closer friendships with Thomas's friends parents and reconnecting with friends with kids now that maybe we haven't talked to in a while.

No, I don't have the best life as some may imagine it - filthy rich floating the seas on a yacht or sitting on a Caribbean island completely carefree.  But I have a family that cares about me.  I have friends I can trust.  I have coworkers who have my back.  I live in town that has more than outsiders give us credit for.  And I have a career that has taken care of my family and I with all of our needs and many wants.

Instead of feeling like everything around is pressuring me or pushing me one way or the other, I began to realize that I was perfectly in the middle of tons of opportunities.

I have an opportunity to build on the foundation I've created at work.

Britt and I have the opportunity to continue to shape our marriage into what a marriage should be.

We have the opportunity to buy more stuff, but you know what, stuff isn't any fun alone.  What good is a boat with no one to ride with, or a pool to swim in alone?  Stuff is nice, but people make it matter.  We have the opportunity to add and deepen friendships.

Make friends, forget your enemies, live your life, take advantage of the opportunities in front of you today.  Next year will be here before you know it.

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