Fourty.

Today I turn Forty (40).
As with previous birthdays, I feel no different that any other day.

I am still sore from the batting cages Saturday. The family went to a small amusement park and had a great exhausting time.

Aging is such a strange thing. This life does not last forever, but it seems so hard for us to generally comprehend that.
I was listening to 'The 12 Week Year" on Blinkist yesterday and that kind of goes hand in hand with the way we measure time in years (which is long) instead of something shorter. Like, maybe I should be 480 months old today instead. I have an average of about 480 more to go (if I'm lucky).

So I am now at the halfway point of this long job we call life. Unless I bow out early, which could happen.

My sister's dog of 10 years passed away Friday night/Saturday morning.
It was obvious she was going.

I spent some time with her Friday, petting her and saying prayers. Everyone wanted her to know that it was okay to go, that her job here was done. I hope I can believe that as my candle burns to its end.

This led me to reading a lot about pets dying and Buddhist thought.  I won't go into any of it, or what my thoughts are, because I'm still not sure what my thoughts are.

But I did learn a new phrase: mono no aware.

This, in short, is a Japanese term that brings to light the awareness of impermanence. That's not quite it, somewhere a joyful sadness fits in to the meaning.

I think in our short view that we only find love and beauty because the object of our love is transient. We have a hard time (at least I do) comprehending something that is a true constant. I mean, we try, and we probably do get some insight into it, but if we ever got a hold of it, I doubt we would let go.
Basically, even our idea of an absolute is transient!

So, I am going to make an effort today to be aware of that beauty today. In myself, in others, in the things that pile up around me.

Because life is too fragile not to.