The “Life Year” Theory

So I just got this idea, while I was sitting eating lunch. It was the most delicious sandwich ever! If you want to make a sandwich really great, top it with thin slices of red pepper.

But…No, that is not the great idea I alluded to in the first sentence. Though it is a good idea, and one I would highly recommend to anyone.

But this is the idea I just had: you know how you always hear about how people are in a certain “season” of their life? Like, especially, you might hear of a “May-December” romance. Or you might hear about “The Winter of Our Discontent.” And people who are young and inexperienced are “Spring Chickens.”

Well, what if you actually divided up a life into a calendar year? Where would you be right now? More specifically, I wondered, where would I be right now. I’d always kind of figured that at this stage in my life I’m kind of in “Autumn,” which is just fine with me, because Autumn happens to be my favorite season.

So this is what I came up with: I intend to live to at least 80. Hopefully a bit more. Long life runs on both sides of my family, so if I just take care of myself, eat right, do a little exercise now and then, and take care not to get hit by a bus, I anticipate, by the Grace of God, seeing 80 or beyond.

Somewhere I had once heard that all the cells in a human body are completely replaced every seven years. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I heard it, and it stuck with me, and I always marveled that every seven years, you could be a completely different person. Interesting, no? Kind of gives you hope for the future, that things always have that potential to change and get better.

So, with that information, let’s divide a life into seven year increments. And let’s say each seven years is the equivalent of one “month.” So, at the end of January, you would be seven years old. At the end of February, you would be 14 years old, and 21 at the end of March, 28 at the end of April, etc. And at the end of December in this “Life Year” you would be 84. So it kind of works out just about perfectly, doesn’t it?

Now, I am currently 51 or 52, something like that. When you get to this age you don’t really keep track as diligently as you once did. But I do know that in keeping with this “Life Year” idea I’m proposing, I would have been 49 at the end of “July.” That means now, it’s August.

August is not yet Autumn, but it’s almost Autumn. It’s that late, late summer time that could be very hot and dreadful and boring, and it is also that time when the anticipation of Autumn is heavy in the air.

And we know what Autumn means. Back to school, cooler weather, beautiful leaves, and football! Oh, also lots of really fun holidays! Honestly, I don’t know why Autumn isn’t EVERYBODY’S favorite season.

So here I am. On the brink of Autumn, when all the really good stuff starts.