Jim Hite

This past weekend, Joyce and I were invited to a friend's 80th birthday celebration in Fayetteville. For several reasons, we were unable to make the trip as we had planned.

What made this particular birthday special, however, was the manner in which he, his wife, and friends celebrated this milestone. They gathered in Peachtree City and ran in either a five kilometer or 10 kilometer race.

We have known the couple for many years. Both are accomplished athletes in track; he is also accomplished in field events. Both have won medals in national and world competitions, both hold national single age and five-year age group records.

Such a celebration brings to mind one of our favorite sayings: "Runners are the only people who look forward to birthdays." This is due to the fact that if we compete in running, whether on the road or on the track, we compete in five-year age groups. Since we invariably slow as we age, those of us with a '4' or '9' at the end of our age find it somewhat difficult to keep up with those with a '0' or '5' at the end of theirs. However, when WE reach the '0' or '5' level, we get a new surge in our competitive juices!!

I have a sticker on my traveling notebook given to me by my daughters on a somewhat long ago birthday: "Getting old is not for sissies." How true that is! No matter how we attempt to bend time with exercise and attitude, inevitably, time bends us. And while we may think it would be nice to live to 100, it might be the absolute opposite if we are sick and in failing health.

Health is good, but may have little to do with age. For example, one can be a physical wreck when young (note the alarming obesity in our country, our county). One can be a cardiovascular marvel yet succumb to skin cancer, what Scott Tinley calls "the outdoor life's perfect murder."

However, let's go back to our friend in Fayetteville. He and that circle of older athletes do have something going for them, an opportunity to share the feelings such individuals have as they gather after a race, all experiencing the pure joy of having done the event, standing exhausted, maybe hurting, and sweating or freezing according to the time of year.

Maybe, just maybe, this active life is a chance for us to "Gracefully surrender the things of youth" (Max Ehrmann). We have a temporary backstage pass to the show of youth. And we can write another chapter in our own life story every time we hit that age ending with a '0' or '5'.

We cannot control time or age, and we cannot control inherited health issues. But what we can attempt to control, we do. And while we know that time and age will ultimately win, we refuse to be sissies and give in without a struggle. For in that struggle lies daily and ultimate victory.

With luck, we may grow old. With luck, we may do it healthfully. And along the way to life's finish line, as Paul put it, each day will be filled with life, not existence. And therein also lies a crown!