Powell2ThEEPeople

May will always hold a special place in my heart.

Why? Well, quite a few reasons actually. Yes, it means that warmer weather is coming for the majority of us. But it also means spring is in full effect. Trees are budding from the ground. Flowers are erupting from the grass. Grass that has transformed from brown to green once again.

May has always been a month of celebration for me. Why? Because May 4th allows me to say the heck yes I’ve made it 50 trips around the sun. Yes, I know what you’re thinking. I LOVE my birthday.

I used to think that I was the ONLY person that I knew that had a birthday in the month of May. Well, my grandfather anyway. We actually never celebrated our birthdays together (mine was May 4th, his was May 7th) but as I got older, I learned many similarities we shared in the way we celebrate.

When I started high school, I shared homeroom with a girl I had known my whole life, Katie Raley. We used to go to her families grocery store all the time growing up. The Raley family are wonderful down to earth people who always showed my grandparents and I the utmost respect and kindness. We would always reciprocate that same energy when we engaged with them. One day in ninth grade, we realized we were both born on the same day. Thus I had my first birthday buddy. We share that joy to this day.

Life happens and you start to figure out what birthdays really are. They become more than cake and gifts. They become more than people singing to you (yay Facebook requests). Birthdays are milestones. They are reminders. Reminders that throughout every heartbreak, defeat, win, loss, lesson, blessing, YOU MADE IT THROUGH TO SEE ANOTHER.

This birthday was different for me.

Now, before I go any further. Let me give you some background. I turned 50 this year.

FIFTY.

To most that probably sounds old. To me, it sounds Liberating. It sounds like grace. It sounds like I’ve earned the right to be here. It sounds like storytelling. Decades worth of experiences, wisdom, scars, growth, and overcoming. It sounds like every lesson life has thrown my way, has finally started to make sense.

I turned 50 and realized I was fortunate enough to make it this far. Not everyone gets to grow old. I have lost loved ones that will never get the chance to celebrate another trip around the sun. I have felt pain, disappointment, brokenness, and felt like I was questioning my own greatness. But through it all, I’ve also felt overwhelming amounts of love, great friendships, purpose, faith, laughter, fatherhood, grandfatherhood, and opportunities to completely change my mindset when life thought I was too old to change.

50 made me celebrate the journey more than the destination.

I thought about my grandparents raising me and how they molded me into the man I am today. I thought about the naive Jarred who thought he had it all figured out. LOL. I thought about my years in the Marine Corps, having life changing conversations with strangers while in the barber chair, mistakes I’ve made, victories I’ve encountered, and every single person who played a role in helping me become the man that I am still evolving into.

Because at 50, I am still evolving.

See, that’s the thing… we NEVER stop evolving as long as we don’t stop growing. Many people let society dictate when they should be “here” or “there” by a certain age. I am grateful that I’m still growing.

At 50 I am still…

Learning.

Healing.

Building.

Dreaming.

Trusting God through the process.

This birthday was special because I didn’t need a grand celebration or party to appreciate the fact that God blessed me once again to make it 50 trips around the sun. Some will reading this are either running their damn race or haven’t started it quite yet. Trust me, there is something therapeutic about reaching a point in your life where you stop caring about pleasing everybody and you start focusing on the things that truly matter. Peace, family, faith, purpose, loyalty, health, genuine conversations, and time.

Speaking of time, time seems different when you hit 50. You begin to understand that it’s one of the only things in life we can never get back. So you learn to cherish moments more. You learn to cherish conversations more. You learn to cherish people more. You care less about the small things that used to try to steal your joy.

This year I found myself embracing gratefulness more than anything.

Grateful for my wife and our relationship. Our children. Our grandchildren. Our friendships. Our careers. Our new paths Jaycee is taking me on with cybersecurity and education. I’m grateful for every person who has walked alongside me, supported me, believed in my greatness, prayed for me, or even took time to check on me when I was being shady during my low moments.

Most of all, I am grateful to God for allowing me to make it this far and carrying me through times where I myself could not understand what He was doing.

If I had to leave you with anything. Don’t let society tell you your timeline. Your reinvention can happen at any age. Your purpose has no expiration date. Your healing doesn’t have a time limit.

Your next chapter could be your BEST one yet…and it could start AFTER the world thinks you should’ve stopped.

50 trips around the sun and I’m just getting started…

…I’m JUST GETTING FOCUSED.

Peace and Love

— Jarred Powell
Powell 2 Thee People