The Invulnerable Aura of Invincibility

Two points yesterday and today to get my attention:

1) Fear Mor sends me a text a 0200 in the morning that he is being admitted to the hospital.  Later cause is determined to be pancreatitis.

2)  Facebook post:  A good friend is diagnosed with testicular cancer and goals into surgery today for removal.  No evidence it has spread and a high belief it can be removed.

It's a solemn reminder, the sort of cold water splash to the face that makes one stop and take notice of where one is and what one is doing (and let's be honest, complaining about) in life.  These two friends of mine bracket my age category.

One always hears about the "aura of invincibility" that the young seem to have, this sense that they can do anything and not suffer the consequences.  I suppose it makes sense - the less clever among us would simply call it a lack of experience - this belief that nothing really bad can happen to you.  But what I find myself confronting now is when - or even if - we lose that feeling ourselves.

The reality for all is that time is not our friend.  Part of the reason I suppose many people feel invulnerable is that their bodies simply have the ability to absorb more when they are young.  But time and age come to all and the sense that we had that we can do anything is replaced by the very really data our bodies do not always respond as we would like or want them too.

Why does this matter?  Because this aura convinces us that we have all the time in the world:  There is always tomorrow to get to the things that matter.  We can fill our life with that which is less than truly important.  We actually have time to waste, because more time will always be there - and we will have the health to enjoy and use it. 

Ultimately, the Invulnerable Aura of Invincibility convinces us that we are other than what we really are.

Spare a prayer or at least a thought for my friends, of course.  They need them. 

But also take a moment to reflect what assumptions we make about our health and our time and our ability to do that which we are to be about doing.    Let us not fool ourselves that things will always be as they have been.