Time Comes Collecting

Youth often feels like a time of endless energy and resilience. We are magically invincible during those early years.

We move freely, take risks, and rarely pause to consider the long-term effects of our actions.

Even when Mom is warning us "you will feel that when you get older".

Yet, as the years pass, our bodies begin to tell a different story, often filing grievances and protests.

Aches in our knees, the stiffness in our backs, and the subtle changes in our appearance are receipts and reminders that time is a merciless accountant that will come to collect in the future.

The choices we make in our youth will come due, and with interest!

Bills that come in the form of physical reminders that aging is not just about growing older but about paying the price for the life we once lived.

Some of us have racked up some pretty high tabs over the years.

Oh, to be young:

When we are young, running, jumping, lifting, and bending just happen.

We pushed limits, often ignoring the small warnings our bodies send.

Whether it’s the late nights or the repetitive strain from sports or work, these actions accumulate silently.

My joints, especially my knees and back, bear the brunt of this invisible toll.

Years of impact and strain lead to wear and tear that only become apparent decades later.

Suddenly, simple movements like bending down to tie shoes or climbing stairs become challenges.

Just reaching down to grab my shoes has landed me in bed, laid up for a few days.

The body’s resilience fades, replaced by stiffness and discomfort, reminding us that there is always a payment due.

Aging transforms the body in ways that are both expected and often surprising.

Hair turns gray and thins. Sometimes it takes a hike completely; weight distribution shifts, often settling in places we never anticipated.

And rarely ever wanted.

Skin loses elasticity, and muscles weaken.

These changes reflect the cumulative effects of our lifestyle, genetics, and environment. 

No one escapes it.

The phrase "time comes collecting."  Have you heard it? If not, you will, and it will be perfectly clear. A creak, a crack, a groan here and there.

Like the little old cash register bell, ching, ching, ching.  

Oh, it is not usually a sudden or single event, and the price to be paid may come sooner rather than later.  

But for most of us, it is a gradual process where the body’s past choices manifest as present realities with ever-compounding interest.

This unwelcome reckoning is often met with surprise or frustration, not because it is sudden, but because our youth doesn't prepare us for aging.

We didn't take a class on it, no guidebooks, no videos, no, nothing can prepare you, it is an experience only ride.

As I get older, I have been reflecting on this.

Ok, feeling, not just reflecting, but being laid up gives one time to reflect.

Just this last week, while doing what I consider minor maintenance work around the house, I got that familiar ping in the back; it reminded me.

Ok, it screamed at me.

It clearly let me know that the body is a record keeper and that I owe a lot of bills.

You remember that kid in the movie? I want my two dollars! Time is more relentless than that.  

Every bike, skateboard, motorcycle, car, football, wrestling, impact, every fall from the tree, or bang and bump on the playground, every extra slice of pizza, and more than my fair share of beer, along with every hour spent hunched over screens or working with tools, adds up.

The price is not just physical pain now, but a critical shift in how we experience the world and ourselves.

Don’t get me wrong; for me, acknowledging the cost of how we spent our youth is not about regret but about gaining understanding.

It invites me to have a deeper appreciation for both the body’s endurance and the inevitability of change.

This time of reflection can be a source of wisdom for some or perhaps denial for others.

For me, it has all been about encouraging a gentler relationship with myself and a recognition of the sacrifices, challenges, and, well, some very questionable decisions I made along the way.

Growing older is a strange kind of journey. You lose things you once took for granted and gain things you never asked for.

Sadly, as we all know, it is not a journey that everyone gets to make.

Yes, we may lose some of our former strength and flexibility, but we gain stories, memories, wisdom, and a future we can now shape through our experience.

The aches and pains I have now are bits and pieces of a larger narrative about living life fully.

A narrative I plan to continue as long as I can.

We all ignored the body’s signals in youth, not understanding that it leads to a steeper price later.

And I am guilty of this one far too often, check, please.

I have started realizing that even though the physical costs of youth can feel like burdens, they also mark a life I have lived with passion and energy.

Our pasts are locked and can only be learned from; today is all that we can control, so keep your hands on the wheel.

This perspective allows me to embrace aging not as a decline but as a continuation of life’s complexities with a few more guardrails in place, and I have to keep rolling with it.

So slow down, listen more closely, and yes, honor the years that have passed; but also plan for the years we have left.

The cost of youth can also be a magnificent down payment on our future if we learn from it.

It can be part of a larger process in our lives of growth and acceptance, and that next chapter can be a beautiful one if we let it.

I, for one, have enjoyed the ride so far.

Now pass the aspirin, please.

I wrote this Knowing how truly blessed I am!

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