Ohohoy!

Ohohoy!  I just turned 35 and I can say that I’m halfway through life.  Thirty five more years to go and I’ll be extremely thankful for any healthy day that I’m over 70.

I remember Mr. B getting his son 7 gifts for his 7^th birthday.  Like any milestone birthday, I think the median birthday should also be celebrated with style.  But however hard I try, I cannot think of 35 gifts for myself.  So here are the things that I have yet to receive after thirty five birthdays.   I hope my wife is reading this.

Mr. A’s wish list:

1. 3 Siberian huskies (apparently they can’t live alone)
2. A farm to raise my Siberian Husky pack
3. Nintendo Wii so I can practice at home and beat Mr. B’s 7-year old
4. Playstation 3 – it’s still the cheapest bluray disc player
5. A kickass (description for the non-techie like me) PC that can play Diablo 3
6. Leica Digilux 3 digital camera  or Leica M8
7. Poljot Sturmanskie Chronograph watch
8. A pair of personalized mi adidas Barricade shoes with the word ohohoy! on each shoe.
9. Head Crossbow 6 or Crossbow 10 tennis racquet.
10. Tennis partners
11. Usain Bolt’s Olympics Jamaica Puma Shirt
12. Tickets to the Dela Hoya – Pacquiao fight.  Including US Visa, airfare and hotel accommodations.
13. Trip to Morocco.
14. Wusthof knives
15. Copper cookware set.
16. Scholarship to a culinary school.
17. The Osim uSpace massage chair
18. a vintage Herman Miller or Charles Eames chair
19. A CURE FOR CANCER – thanks to Stand Up 2 Cancer, there is a chance.

….and I can’t think of anything more for myself.  Peace on earth, goodwill to men, end to hunger, poverty, corruption and global warming?  I’m not holding my breath for any but you never know…

Life is a party and it begins at 40.  Are you prepped for it? I personally know a handful who got utterly trounced by their lack of forethought just as they reached their fourth decade.  I watched them fall. I felt their pain.  In one fell swoop, I realized what needed to be done.  It was, quite genuinely, an Ohohoy! moment. 

I celebrated my 35^th birthday several months before Mr. A marked his, effectively giving me a head start on life’s ponderables by a good, um, several months.  Without initially meaning to, I turned over a new leaf and found myself treading along the path to a healthy lifestyle.  Plodding may be the more accurate term, but whatever nirvana awaits my efforts I’m slowly getting there. 

Consider my condition six months ago: here was a pot-bellied slob smoking 40 cigs a day, drinking the weekends away, and stuffing himself silly at every opportunity.  Right after turning 35 I quit smoking cold turkey, secured a lifetime gym membership, and embarked on a diet so radical Mr. A wouldn’t be caught dead trying it.  While I’m still far away from growing six-pack abs, my weekends are now alcohol-free.  Capping it all off – and perhaps the biggest key element to a healthy lifestyle – is my new task management system that promotes stress-free productivity and deserves another blog post for another time. 

To say I’m a changed man in just six months is an understatement.  I was completely turned inside out! Someone told me I might be experiencing an early midlife crisis and that, though unusual, it drove me to take positive action.  Maybe.  What’s clear to me is this sudden sense of awareness that life matters, that life is good, and that I have to nurture the vessel that holds it.  Think of a five-year plan without its communist trappings.  

There really is no ideal age to make a healthy paradigm shift though it is always better to start sooner.  The age of 35 just suits me right – not too soon nor too late.  All I need is five years to prepare myself for the party called life, if indeed it begins at 40.