Some of you might remember the television show “V” in the mid-80s. In it, a group of lizard-like aliens try to take over the earth. Disguised as humans, their true identity would “melt” off and they’d reveal themselves as lizards… or “Thealiens.”
Well it’s happening to me. Throughout my 20s and early 30s, I was invincible. I could rock until the early hours of the morning and get up four hours later and have a productive day at work. Now, as I enter … the next stage… all that is changing. A glass of wine gives me the same buzz that a bottle used to give me and recovery? Let’s not even talk about it.
As the years pass, I find myself going to bed … and waking up… earlier than I thought possible. The other day, I stood on the treadmill at 5:45 a.m. and realized it had happened. I have become my parents. A quick audit of my present day lifestyle led me to this realization:
- I wake up to a prepared cup of coffee instead of a burnt pot of macaroni and cheese.
- My exercise routine includes stretching.
- My “spending money” doesn’t mean blowing every dollar left in my bank account after the bills are paid and “savings” goes beyond my “Spring Break” account.
- I eat cereal for breakfast instead of Mountain Dew.
- I spend Saturday mornings listening to “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” instead of laying in bed
wishing away a massive headache. - I say things like “when I was in school” and “remember when…”
- I think about retirement the same way I used to think about summer vacation.
- I find myself talking about Kurt Cobain and the 90s with the same dream-like reverence as they talked about John Lennon and the 60s.
- Two words: PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE. On my vehicles, my house and my body.
So the outer skin has melted off and here I am. I look down at my hands and see those same elevated veins I used to push around on my mom’s hands during church. I see the same crinkles around my eyes that I would see in my fathers’ when he was engaged in intense debate.
As the adage goes, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” I look at my friends and see that many of them also carry many of the same lifestyle choices of their parents. For example, many friends who came from big families have started big families of their own. The friends whose parents ran marathons when we were young are now running their own marathons.
Whether it’s nature or nurture, we have an incredible impact on the young lives we’re rearing. And while the tantrums can be incredible and the attitude intense, we’ve got to remember that they will likely model much of their behavior after our own.
Growing up, I swore I never would be like my parents when I got older. Now I couldn’t be more happy that I am.
