At recent Sunday services, I was tuned in for a word or phrase that might offer some guidance for the week ahead.  From Psalm 90, I got what I was listening for:

“Our days may come to seventy years,
    or eighty, if our strength endures;
Teach us to number our days,
    that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

That phrase “numbering our days” resonated with me – maybe because of the impact of the second part where we may “…gain a heart of wisdom.” 

I take the numbering of days to mean that we should be mindful and reflect on the brevity of life.  And by doing so we might realize that it’s not an endless stay here on earth.  From there, we hope to gain some “wisdom of heart” or the wisdom of things that are truly important to focus on and not squander our time.

Similarly, the popular book ‘Die With Zero,’ by Bill Perkins admonishes us to think about how many years we might have left…how many Christmases or birthdays with your family, etc. and savor them.  And to take that trip you’ve been meaning to take.

After all, a healthy 65-year-old male in the United States can expect to live an additional 17.5 years, making the total life expectancy around 82.5 years.  For a woman of 65 it’s 20.2 years for a total life expectancy of just over 85 years.

Be prepared to spend your time in retirement wisely and to use your ‘wisdom of heart’ to make the most of each day and foster meaningful relationships and experiences.  Be prepared to have more time to slow down.

Once or twice a year my wife and I trek north from Minneapolis to the ‘north shore’ of Lake Superior.  It’s a little over a 3-hour drive to our destination and we usually make it there with just one brief stop for fuel and/or a restroom break. There are many interesting sites along the way that we notice and comment on – but we rarely stop to explore them further. That’s one thing I’m looking forward to…making the 3-hour trip into a longer 5-hour trip or more.

We’ll get there eventually, but we’ll experience new things along the way and I’ll have NEW stories to tell (something my wife and friends I’m sure will appreciate).

Perhaps I’ll even understand and follow the directions from the poem ‘Sometimes’ by Mary Oliver:

“Instructions for living a life:

Pay attention.

Be astonished.

Tell about it.”