40 - February 17th, 2019 — The McNeill Experience

February 17th, 2019

Mitte Art Gallery and Restaurant

Time is an interesting concept. It’s the most important commodity we possess yet we have no control over it. We interpret time in past memory and future projection but almost never live in the fleeting moments which define both. As a child I remember time moving so slow and wanting it to always move faster. It always seemed like it took forever to get to the moments we were looking forward to, only to have those moments go by too quickly. Each childhood milestone seemed so far away and the thought of being an adult was so unobtainable that it never crossed my mind. Even today I have a hard time reconciling myself as an adult. After college I remember watching NCAA football and thinking “...those guys are younger than me.” They were always older, yet all of a sudden they weren’t. The realisation of time hit me over the head like cartoon piano falling from the sky. My reaction, of course, was to ignore this realisation and indulge in my youth. But even indulging in the moment didn’t make me realize how important this commodity was until much later. And why would it? I had so much time left - I could easily spend some of that currency.

That currency valuation changed a little this week, or at least it was supposed to. On Friday I turned 40. In comparison to my late grandmother, who died just short of her 93rd birthday, 40 isn’t even halftime. But somehow, I, like many others, have been conditioned to believe 40 is old.

A good friend of ours once compared ageing to a fine wine. He said [*paraphrasing*], “... it starts out immature and unpalatable, but as it gets older, the flavours begin to blend making the wine more robust and flavourful, until finally, it’s that SGS (Seriously Good Shit).” At 40, I barely feel like the flavours have come together. Over the past 10 years I’ve only begun to understand who I am, what my purpose is, and where I want to go from here. My flavours are only beginning to blend. This isn’t half time, the game hasn’t even started yet.

Dr. Nir Barzilai of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine has surmised, based on research, that it’s not only possible for a healthy person in their 40s today to live to 120, but to be active and have a good life beyond 100.

40 isn’t the milestone most people think it is, it was more like a trail marker - at least for me. Birthdays are not accomplishments. They are a celebration of time passing - something we have no control over. Our accomplishments are the everyday things we do in-between the markers of time. If moving halfway across the globe as taught me anything it’s how to enjoy the time we have. This commodity is valuable and the use of it ultimately defines who we are. I have 40 years of experiences that have defined who I am today. But, I have 60-80 years of new experiences that are yet to define who I will become.

Speaking of a new life experiences, we were happy to welcome the newest member of our tribe this weekend. Meet Cali, a 2.5 year old Frenchie rescue from Hungry. Over the past month or so we had been looking for a new pup and this one jumped into the picture. On Saturday Doreen hopped a plane to Frankfurt to meet the rescue caravan driving up from Hungry. Once she had Cali in-toe she drove back to Berlin. So far she’s a bit shy, but that’s to be expected. We’re sure Maya can bring her out of her shell when she’s ready.

On Sunday we ventured out during one of the nicest days of the year so far. We’ve been waiting to go ice skating for the past few weeks but it’s rained every weekend and the rinks are outdoors. We had beautiful weather and Logan is slowly but surly getting the hang of it.