It is said that we celebrate our 50th birthday because that is when we reach the midpoint of our lives. (That is assuming, of course, that we will live up to age 100.)
For sure, there will be no celebration for me on my 50th birthday. The reason: I already reached my midpoint at 46.
You see, I got seriously ill at age 46. I thought I’d go to the great beyond at such young age, leaving behind a noble wife and 6 wonderful kids. But the Lord allowed me to live to tell the tale, so to speak. My lawyer-friends had this to say about my recovery: those who live long in this earth are the bad ones, the weeds, the “masamang damo”. If I follow that kind of thinking, then I should count myself as a “masamang damo” since I cheated death. But I don’t really buy that. I want to believe that I was given a new lease on life because God still wants me to do things for Him and for others.
I guess that perspective changes everything. Since I am already celebrating the “part two” of my life, the reasons for living have now dramatically changed. My wife, Liza, has an acronym for it: “S/S.” According to Liza, S/S means Success/Significance. M/M is another way of putting it – Money/Meaning.
Assuming that I have lived half of my life at age 46, then that means I’ll live to a ripe old age of 92. For me, the first half or 46 years of my life should have been all about first “S,” Success. That’s all about accumulating wealth, having a home, driving an SUV, building a career, expanding clientele base, and everything that would satisfy my wants more than my needs. But after reaching the halfway mark and satisfying almost, if not all, my wants, what else was there to do? I guess that’s where the second “S” comes in – Significance. Age 47, at least for me, is the starting point where I should do something more significant, something that would give meaning to my existence, something that would make a lasting impact in other people’s lives, even when I am gone. Translated into concrete terms, that’s the part where I should seriously take the advice of Talmudic scholars, who are quoted to have said that “the 3 most important things you can do in life is to — have a child, plant a tree, write a book.” Interestingly, these are three things that linger even after we have gone to the life beyond… a child survives us, trees stand tall years after we have, and books get read for generations.
Starting 2011, the 2nd half of my life, everything should be about making a difference in other people’s lives; the focus should be more on the family and my eternal destination, and less on money or activities that has accumulation of worldly wealth as its objective.
I know that devoting more time for one means less time for others, but I am ready for the trade-off. My values and convictions are clearer now, and I am ready to do more things that have eternal consequences.
No more of new year’s resolutions. I’m into my second S — Significance — or my second M — meaning. My life-threatening illness has made its point. It’s now or never.
