Thursday, October 2, 2008

For those of us approaching fifty...



Having worked in stained glass for twenty years has meant that I was able to work with a lot of older, more experienced people. The lessons and the wisdom they have to teach us are invaluable. I have had the pleasure of meeting some very cool people thru the years.

I once had the honor of meeting a stained glass artist who had been taught by one of the original artists' who had worked for Louis C. Tiffany. He regaled me with wonderful stories of how stained glass was done in the early 1900's...Why lead was used and why copper foil was so difficult to use back then. Why Tiffany did overlays of glass...The first American glass company in the 1890's...And, so much more.

Life really HAS changed a lot in the last 100 years...

As the years have ticked closer to my own 50's, I began to ask all of my older friends how their fifties were...What decade had been the best? I mean, I felt like my forties were fantastic, like I really began to understand life and why I was here...

When I turned forty-nine you would think panic would set in. But it hasn't... In less then two months I am going to be fifty years old...Wow. Streaking thru Steak'n'Shake seems like yesterday but that was 34 years ago...Wow.

You know what every single person has told me though? "The forties you understood...but in the fifties, life is good. You don't care about the small things anymore. The drama is gone. You accept your flaws and look at life in a new way...You really enjoy and appreciate life..."

Armed with that wisdom, I personally intend to embrace my fifties with a zeal, a passion and an attitude of "I will not go gently into the night..."

So, to my fellow 49'ers...Work it baby! We are so fine...

Learn to LIKE yourself...and remember that attitude is everything.

Now, go talk to an older person today! They have great stories to tell...

P.S. And to my favorite news anchor guy out there, Matt Lauer, who recently turned fifty...With utmost respect, I just want to say that you're still one of my morning pleasures...like coffee. Yea, that's it...coffee.



Wednesday, October 1, 2008

We should all be the red tulip...



Life is about perceptions and attitude...