homo escapeons

I AM TURNING 49 TODAY!

Now as far as I know 49 doesn't have any universal significance. Not like 69 nudge nudge wink wink say no more!

Actually as far as I was concerned 49 was simply going to be the year devoted to accepting the concept that next year when I turn 50 that I will be referred to by others as middle aged.

Truth be told very few people actually live to be 100 so 50 is not really an accurate benchmark.

The average lifespan of a North American in 1901 was 49, now it is 77....
which means that Middle Age actually occurs when you hit 38.5.

Apparently the average Earthling lives to be around 66 and the oldest recorded human was 122..so she didn't hit Middle Age until 61!

Throughout most of History most human beings could only expect to live between 25 to 35 years.

I was reading the statistics on how 2.5 Million Americans exited this world in 2003 and I found it morbidly fascinating that the causes included;

762 bicycle accidents,
875 choking on their food,
47 lightning,
594 fell out of bed,
22 skydiving,
1,588 fell down stairs,
11,212 overdosed on drugs,
1 measles,
43 salmonella,
32 dog attack,
365 fell off of a ladder.
and not a single fatality was caused by Blogging!

In order to successfully navigate through the next 28 statistically probable years of my existence in a sane, healthy, constructive mode I need to prescribe for myself a plan that is simple and universal;

try to be more charming and less tedious,
(not always easy for me),

learn something new about the world everyday,
(very easy),

try to exchange my schadenfreude (pleasure taken from someone else's misfortune) for the Buddhist concept of Mudita which is the exact opposite,
(pathetic but true)

to enjoy and cherish whatever time that I have with my wife, children, family and friends,
(they make it so easy..most of the time),

to not fear the end of this life,
(nobody gets out alive so what are ya gonna do?),

concentrate on giving back more than I receive,
(oink oink oink),

and to make atleast one person laugh every single day.
(especially strangers),

I must confess that I am absolutely thrilled to have met so many of you thoughtful, wonderful, funny, intelligent, interesting people from all over the world since I discovered Blogging..
I have not been this content and comfortable in my own skin since my Triassic Period back in College.

I seem to have rediscovered my voice and it is very exciting. Strange as it sounds Blogging has restored my nagging optimism about People.
You can dismiss this as sycophantic drivel if you like but I feel reconnected to the world. Afterall, I am just a click and a tap away from YOU.

I discovered that I have learned as much about myself as I have about others.

Hello my name is Donn and I'm a blogoholic!
Thank You...and if we can change our names and even our sex, why can't we legally change our age?
FORTY NINE, SCHMORTY NINE!