Like a book, life is a series of chapters.
Some are exhilarating and rewarding. Some are challenging and heartbreaking. Many seem routine and even sometimes mundane.
Each chapter offers knowledge to build upon for the remaining chapters ahead.
I’ve found that the seemingly routine and mundane chapters are especially important to appreciate.
Earlier today, I was editing an article and listening to a country music playlist and heard “You’re Gonna Miss This” by Trace Adkins.
“You’re gonna miss this.
You’re gonna want this back.
You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast.
These are some good times, so take a good look around.
You may not know it now, but you’re gonna miss this.”
The song was about a teenage girl eager to grow up fast and follows her life through different stages, yet it applies to life in general for every person.
I’ve shared my testimony in a column on All In Ohio earlier this year. It detailed my escape from apathy and being lukewarm in my walk with God.
My path over the last five years – since I woke up about many aspects of life during the needless and tyrannical COVID mandates – has led me to become stronger in my faith, keep moving forward to becoming the man God intends me to be, and strive to make the most of the gifts He has blessed me with while learning new skills and improving in areas of life where I need growth.
I’ve embarked on this path partly because of where I am – figuratively and literally.
I still think I’m 36. Though I’m in the midst of wellness goals in the MAHA Wellness Plan I’m documenting , I still feel like I’m 36. The calendar says something different. God willing, I will turn 57 on July 1.
When you reach your 50s, it is an odd decade. You’re technically part middle age – unless you surpass 100 before you die. You’re no longer young, but you’re not old. At least this is how I feel – mentally and physically. There is a change in mindset, though. There is a greater sense of urgency to reach goals and objectives, and there is a greater urgency with how you live your life.
Simply put, I’m blessed. I had a pleasant childhood and was raised by two remarkable parents who are still happily married to this day. We were textbook middle class on paper, but looking back, we were wealthy in all the most important areas. When I woke up, went to sleep, and all the hours in between, I knew I was loved. My parents worked hard to provide, and they were always present. I was raised in a family with loving grandparents; and uncles, aunts, and cousins who were valuable parts of my life.
Though we did go through the infamous April 3, 1974 Xenia tornado when the only part of our house left standing was the hallway where we hid – and then my parents had to rebuild after losing almost everything they owned – I didn’t have hardships during my childhood. We had what we needed, because of how I was raised.
As I wrote in my testimony column, I was raised in a small family church, and I’ve had stretches of my adult life when I’ve been on fire for the Lord, and other periods when I lived for myself and was more focused on living for the day.
As a journalist and publicist, I’ve had a lot of fun times. In 2002, I moved to Florida to be with a woman who was my best friend – the woman I always thought I would spend the rest of my life with. We spent several years together and ended up parting ways, but I don’t regret the decision of moving there because those 13 years I lived in Florida opened doors to an abundance of rewarding experiencing.
In early 2015, my mindset changed when the middle chapters of my life arrived. I never knew my Grandpa Louderback, who died when I was 1. But I was close to my Grandma Louderback, and my Grandpa and Grandma Stillwell (my mom’s parents). When I look at the most influential people in my life – and my greatest blessings – it is my parents, and my grandparents.
My Grandma Louderback died in 2003, a year after I had moved to Florida. My Grandma Stillwell died in 2013 and my grandpa passed away a year later. They left legacies that remain ingrained in me to this day. I still think about them and their positive influence.
In late 2014, I returned home for Christmas and stayed 10 days. On the drive home, for the first time since moving to Florida, I didn’t want to be there. I was getting older. My parents were getting older. I could never get those years back, so I sold everything I had that I couldn’t fit in my car, loaded Boston in my passenger seat, and moved back home.
It’s one of the best decisions I’ve made because I have a new appreciation for Ohio, and I see my parents weekly.
“You’re gonna miss this. You’re gonna want this back.
You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast.
These are some good times, so take a good look around.
You may not know it now, but you’re gonna miss this.”
Those lyrics remind me of when I look at old photos from 75, 100 and even 150 years ago. People in front of their house and in a city living everyday life. I often think when I see those photos how that was their time. The photos might capture seemingly routine scenes of everyday life, but those are times those people likely eventually missed when they grew older.
In my testimony, I wrote about the evolving chapters in my life over the last five years – from escaping apathy and getting involved in advocacy against COVID lockdowns, and mask and vaccine mandates; joining The Epoch Times as a national reporter covering meaningful stories; recognizing the need to live a more self-sufficient lifestyle and moving to rural southern Ohio; and debuting All In Ohio – a website about rural living and sustainable living with a faith-based component.
The centerpiece of that evolution is my faith in God. For the first time since I was in my early 20s, I’ve fully committed to Him. I’m still a work in progress, and I’m not fully the man He intends me to be, but I’m far ahead of where I was five years ago and even one year ago.
“You’re gonna miss this. You’re gonna want this back.”
There are times I do miss the simpler times of childhood. There are times I miss those fun days of college, and the early years when I was building my career as a journalist and communication professional. I do believe that I appreciated the moment, and I was raised to appreciate even the most routine of days, yet I think we all get caught up in working hard and looking ahead at what we want out of life personally and professionally.
“You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast.”
I’ve had accomplishments and failures. I’ve had love and heartbreak. I’ve had highs and lows. I’ve had stretches when I’ve felt so close to God, and periods when I felt so far away. I’ve had periods when I’ve felt like I’m close to being the man God intends me to be, and stretches when I’ve felt like a disappointment. It’s all led to here and now, and the chapter where my goals and objectives are fully centered around Him. All my decisions now are based on if they will lead me to fully becoming the man He intends me to be. I succeed daily. I fall short daily. God is there through both and all of the in-between.
There will be a day when I’m gonna miss this – all that is in my life now. I won’t look back because looking back cannot change the present, but I will know that I did appreciate the here and now. And, as new chapters arise, I will appreciate those, too, and fondly look back on them – even the challenges and heartbreaks amid the highs, and all of the routine days.
It’s good to reach a point in your life when you embrace and value even the most mundane of days because you recognize that those days are gifts.
Personally and professionally, I find myself more ecstatic and giddier than I’ve ever been because of where I am and what is possible ahead. I know it’s all because of God.
There are times I haven’t appreciated the here and now, and look back and wish I did.
There are plenty of times when I did value the moment. I smile when I look back at the good moments, and I remember the hard lessons learned during the lows.
“These are some good times, so take a good look around.”
If I’m blessed to reach my grandpa’s age of 90, I’ll look back at where I am now and smile because I appreciated even the most routine of days. That is the difference in mindset when you reach an age where you’re not young, you’re not old, and you have a greater sense of urgency to live the way He intends you to live.
