Act your age!?

I recently celebrated a birthday; and no; the number of years will not be divulged; I believe it is irrelevant anyways. 

I had a very blessed day.  Several family and friends wished me well on my day. The sun shone brilliantly, the temperature reached a glorious +10 and I laughed my way through most of the day. Typically, on any given day, and this one was no exception, I end up laughing at myself, because, truth be told, I refuse to "act my age" when around friends and family, because I have a youthful spark that reignites on a regular basis. 

I have a quirky sense of humor and people I have befriended and have worked with know to expect the unexpected from me. We have to celebrate life as much as possible, because time flies no matter how well planned you think your existence is. A familiar quote I have restated over the years, "If you want to make God laugh, make plans" is oh so true and not to be ignored. Having experienced the recent loss of a pet, knowing a devoted family man who lost his life to cancer in a matter of weeks, and sharing prayers for a newly married young woman who experienced a life altering vehicle accident, I daily gain a new appreciation of life on this earth. 

Don't get me wrong, in a professional capacity, I act my age and deal appropriately as the situation demands. But even in the workplace, I have adopted the "Fish" Philosophy made famous at Pike's Fish Marketplace in Seattle. Their employees follow 4 basic customer service philosophies that have been adopted by libraries and other workplace environments, service groups, etc.;

1. Have Fun; with your co-workers/staff and the customers; lighten up!

2. Be There; place your full attention on your customer and give them the service and respect they deserve

3. Make Their Day; make others appreciate their experience so much that they will want to return and will tell others about their great experience.

4. Choose Your Attitude; choose to be objective, be happy, to be present, to be friendly and gracious. 

You can follow these guiding principles no matter how old you are, and not just in the workplace either; the more I practice them, the younger I feel, and the more I want to share them with others to make any experience better.

So what do I do to act younger? I practice random acts of kindness whenever and wherever I can; people rarely expect these anymore (sadly).  I turn up the music and sing along (when no one else is around of course; my voice isn't that great), I dance in my living room for exercise and to reduce stress....and on my birthday, well let's just say I decided I didn't like the large piles of snow laying around since it is, after all, supposed to be spring.  To break up the piles into meltable (I know that's not a word, but it works here for me) portions, I merrily stomped and jumped on the snow, and klutz that I am, lost my balance and ended up doing a classic full frontal plant, face first, in the snow; sorry, the pictures also will remain unseen! I could have suffocated I was laughing so hard, and after laughing themselves silly at my crazy antics, I was hauled up and out by two family members. Hence, the laughing at my expense; but it helped to burn off some of the supper calories before digging into the birthday cheesecake.  It's always good to take an objective look at any situation.

I have told my family that I will never act my age, and to expect that from me. This year, I am living 13 all over again, since I will be seeing my favorite band from that time period in my life, the Doobie Brothers, in May. As well, watching the movie, "Secretariat" after experiencing the Triple Crown in my family living room, I may have the opportunity to get an autographed picture of jockey, Ron Turcotte on Secretariat, through an acquaintance.  I am also wild about flowers, and long to have fresh flowers around all the time; not only to see and appreciate their life and their color, but to pass by the arrangement several times during the day and breathe in their intoxicating aroma.  All these things bring such excitement and exuberance that I can hardly contain myself; what is that? Craziness? No, methinks it is youthfulness, and appreciation for life and its blessings and gifts.  I hope and pray that I continue to feel that way about many things in my lifetime.

And for when spring really comes--I'll be hauling out my purple bike, my birthday gift from last year, so I can go shopping and deck it out with reflectors, a bell, basket, and whatever else might catch my [young] eyes.