Re-Dedicate

Let me tell you about my day.

I turned 50 years old.

I laid in bed until 7:00 and then I got up and went to the gym.

I opened birthday cards and replied to birthday emails from friends and family.

And I thought...a lot.

People say, "Oh, doesn't being 50 bother you?" "Don't you hate getting old?" "I can't believe you're that old!"

My 50th birthday does not bother me from an aging perspective. I'm one day older than yesterday. There are a lot of ways that I'm better at 50 than I ever was at 25.

What bothers me about being 50 is the amount of time and money I've wasted focusing on me. I live and have lived a blessed life. I've had a lot of opportunities that other folks haven't had.

I'm reminded of some of the times I've said to myself that I should have gotten more involved, that I should have stopped and taken the time to help someone else out, that I should have thought more about being the type of servant I preach about.

No, when I look at myself at 50, I don't see "old", I see wasted opportunity.

I'm a person who loves the idea of a clean slate, of an opportunity to start fresh. My 50th birthday gives me another chance to do that. My goal, for the next 50 years (Halls don't die young...we hang around irritating people), is to focus and refocus every day on the needs of others around me -- people I know and others who I will never meet.

God put us on this earth to serve our fellow human beings and I am re-dedicating myself to those efforts. Hopefully, I'll do better for the next 50.