I am 40. As of today, I am 40. For many, that’s a dark milestone. The beginning of the end. The start of a downhill journey. I refuse to believe it. I choose to embrace all that’s happened, and all that is coming.

This year I will not see the gray hair on my head as a reminder of my mortality, but as a sign of all the “life” I have been blessed to live.

This year I will not buy a cherry red sport car in an attempt to regain my youth. I will drive the stained, dented minivan – reminded that the three kids in the seats behind me truly keep me young.

This year I will worry less about how much money I have in savings or retirement. Instead I will figure out how to give away more and live a life marked by generosity.

This year I will not find my worth in my job or my house, but in the truth that the King of Creation calls me friend.

This year I will not spend my time trying to impress people who don’t care about me, but instead invest in the relationships I have with people I love and who love me back.

This year I will draw less attention to myself and find ways to build up those around me.

This year I will celebrate my wife and woo her like we were in our 20’s again.

This year I will complain less about my sore back. Instead I will be thankful that my sore back can still bend, and play, and lift, and move.

This year I will make sure that my three kids know that they mean more to me than my job. I will work hard – but less. I will play a lot more catch, take more walks to the park, and wrestle more on the living room floor.

This year I will pray more, laugh more, read more, sing more, serve more, relax more, write more, and reflect more.

This year I will remind myself everyday that I am not in “mid-life” – I am in the midst of life!

And so this year…I will live.