Birthdays, Satisfaction, Perspectacles, and a Midlife Edit

NOT TO GLOAT BUT TODAY IS MY 42ND BIRTHDAY. CUE THE CONFETTI!

The marking of time is a funny thing. We celebrate “special” milestone birthdays and feel drawn to take big, new steps during the “big” years. We wait to hit major work anniversary dates before changing jobs, launching new ventures, or retiring.

But time plays tricks on our sense of satisfaction. We focus on reaching a particular date rather than how well we're investing and valuing our time. It’s how satisfaction wanes as the years slip by.

Sometimes, all of our successes and failures, regrets, challenges, and missed opportunities...the stories we’ve lived and the stories we’ve told ourselves...can seem exhausting.

But perspective is everything.

I recently came across this piece of wisdom (author is unknown). I'm sharing with you because…well, 2020 has been a lot, no?

Imagine you were born in 1900
On your 14th birthday, World War I starts and ends on your 18th birthday. 22 million people perish in that war.
Later in the year, a Spanish Flu epidemic hits the planet and runs until your 20th birthday. 50 million people die from it in those two years. Yes, 50 million.
On your 29th birthday, the Great Depression begins. Unemployment hits 25%, the World GDP drops 27%. That runs until you are 33. The country nearly collapses along with the world economy.
When you turn 39, World War II starts. You aren’t even over the hill yet. And don’t try to catch your breath. On your 41st birthday, the United States is fully pulled into WWII. Between your 39th and 45th birthday, 75 million people perish in the war.
Smallpox was epidemic until you were in your 40’s, as it killed 300 million people during your lifetime.
At 50, the Korean War starts. 5 million perish.
From your birth, until you are 55 you dealt with the fear of Polio epidemics each summer. You experience friends and family contracting polio and being paralyzed and/or die.
At 55 the Vietnam War begins and doesn’t end for 20 years. 4 million people perish in that conflict.
During the Cold War, you lived each day with the fear of nuclear annihilation.
On your 62nd birthday you have the Cuban Missile Crisis, a tipping point in the Cold War. Life on our planet, as we know it, almost ended.
When you turn 75, the Vietnam War finally ends.

Whew! When I put on my perspectacles, I see a few takeaways:

2020 may be the Florida of years, but we can do hard things.
We're absolutely stronger than we think...and post-traumatic growth is a real thing that we can lean into for our lives.
Age is but a number when you put more life into your years.

At 42, I'm slightly beyond midpoint for the average life expectancy of a U.S. woman (81). As we move into the middle and second half of life, the science tells us that we tend to seek generativity. For me, birthdays have long been a wonderful time for reflection about what to shed and what to show up for. To do this "midlife edit," I'm guided by a question that may also benefit you: How can you serve the world, while also seeking satisfaction?

Give this question some consideration for your own life and let me know what you come up with.