The lyrics will never go away, so I have decided to embrace them. And today, my 50th birthday, is time to proclaim my new mantra, “Hashtag Frozen” – code phrase for “Let It Go.”
Is it exhaustion with the minutia? Wisdom from experiences? Or the fact that at my age I just don’t care as much? No, it’s actually that I care more. Relationships have become the foundation of my life, and I have been blessed not only with quantity but also quality throughout my first five decades. For me, Let It Go means I don’t get hung up on those pesky little problems – day-to-day inconveniences related to car or house maintenance, petty disagreements, minor health issues, etc…There have been a plethora of “First World Problems” that have plagued the first half of my life, and I’m done with allowing them to affect my mood, my relationships, and the next season of my limited time on this earth.
Instead, I will seek to rise above it all, taking a lesson from the rare bald eagle. Pesky crows are known to peck and annoy this majestic bird, but the eagle continues on its path, soaring higher to reach altitudes where crows cannot fly. So you can win the argument if it means restoring the relationship; criticize me to reveal that you no longer value our friendship; attempt to drag me into your drama, but I will politely refuse; attack my beliefs and foundation, and I’ll receive the information and likely be empowered to grow stronger. Many times I have learned that my harshest critics have become my greatest teachers.
Life is too short to worry about most of what upset me during the first half of my existence. And with statistics telling me that I now have more years behind than ahead of me, I pray that in the years to come I can intentionally focus on what’s truly important – deepening relationships rather than acquiring stuff, seeking God more than entertainment, searching the Bible for answers before heading to the Internet, creating memories instead of reminiscing about regrets, all the while humming “Let It Go.”
So, “Hashtag Frozen” it is! Here’s to the next 50 and beyond.
And in all that I do, “To God Be the Glory.”