It's a Big Number . . . A Very Big Number . . .

The calendar has been moving towards this date all year, but I think I am still in disbelief that on Sunday I will turn 60.  My sister (who just turned 54) tells me that "it's just a number," but all I can say is, "Yes, it's just a number, but it's a BIG number!"  I don't FEEL like I'm 60 and several people have been sweet enough to flatter me and tell me that I don't LOOK 60 (those people are my new BFFs!), but that IS the number I will reach two days from today.

I cannot express how thankful I am that I made the decision five years ago to get healthy!  Turning 60 makes me gulp just a bit, but the thought of turning 60 weighing 260+ pounds, diabetic and on several medications would be incredibly scary.  Health issues related to my weight caught up with me in my early 50's when I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, gastic reflux and borderline high blood pressure.  Had I not lost weight and gotten myself healthy, all of those issues - and possibly more - would threaten to make my 60's a decade of declining health with rounds of doctor's visits and a counter filled with prescription medications.  Had I not gotten healthy, and had I not made the decision to stay healthy, I would be approaching my birthday on Sunday with a lot of trepidation.

Yes, I AM turning a big number on Sunday, but I am turning this number feeling better than I did at 40 or 50 and I am definitely healthier than I was ten or even twenty years ago.  I am SO thankful!  We welcomed a new grandson, our 6th grandchild, on July 5 and are looking forward to welcoming two new granddaughters (our oldest daughter is 29 weeks pregnant with her second set of twins) in a few weeks, so I will be a 60 year old grandmother of 8.  No time to slow down, that's for sure, and I have both the health and the energy to, Lord willing, keep up with all 8 grandchildren for many years to come.

The almost-11 months it took to lose 120 pounds had some long days, days when it was hard to stay on plan and days when I didn't feel like being on plan (but did it anyway!), but those 11 months went fast.  As I look back on that time now, it was just a blip on the calendar - a few short months that allowed me to get my life and my health back.  The investment I put into getting healthy then means I can take a deep breath and celebrate turning 60 on Sunday because I am excited about what God has in store for me in this next decade of my life.  I want to enjoy every minute of it and not be sidelined because of poor choices I make. 

The investment you are making for your health right now is truly just a blip in time when compared with the rest of your life.  You may not be facing a big birthday, but you ARE facing the rest of your life!  How do you want the rest of your life to look?  Decide how you want to live the next year of your life and the next decades of your life, then choose wisely :-)