It’s OK to grow up, just don’t grow old!  I seen it for a couple of years now, at the end of those annoying emails you get with silly pictures of kittens and puppies.  There is so much more truth in that statement than some of us would like to admit.

Take it from an “old guy,”  it really sucks to get old.  I get up in the morning and have a new ache every day.  I’m also finding that some body parts wake up sooner than others.  My morning coffee isn’t just a habit or part of a happy morning ritual.  It’s a requirement, just like the 2 Tylenol.

And let’s not even talk about hair.

Growing up is something that none of us can avoid, and quite frankly, I don’t think I would want too.  With age comes wisdom and that is important.   I heard once that being smart is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.  Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.  Growing up means that you have (hopefully), already made the major mistakes in your life that drag you down.

Growing old means, not only do you hurt everywhere, but you grumpy too, and no one wants to hang around a grumpy old man.

I think the big difference between growing up and growing old, is that when you grow old, you stop learning.  You stop trying new things.  You tend to be stuck in your ways, and then, you stop growing, you just get old.

I have been thinking about this a lot lately.  And it’s not the aches and pains that are guiding this train of thought.  I have been a Scoutmaster for our Boy Scout Troop for about 10 years, and next week is my last act as Scoutmaster.  I am stepping down.  Thinking back on all the experiences I have had as the Scoutmaster has made me a bit nostalgic, very bittersweet.  I have loved my time working with a great group of kids and their parents.  The Scout Leaders I have met and had the pleasure  to work with has been truly a gift sent from heaven.  The Scouts constantly challenged me to go farther, go higher and go faster.  Spending that much time hiking, backpacking and climbing rocks with a bunch of 13 to 18-year-old boys will keep you young at heart.

Plus, to be quite honest, it is amazing what you can learn from a bunch of teenagers.

As I step down, I feel like I am entering a new chapter in my life.  I will be returning to my first true love, photography.   It has been a passion that has been on hold for a long time.  Rekindling that passion has been exciting.  I feel young again.  Well, except for the morning kinks, of course.  I will still join the Scouts on a few hikes, maybe a canoe trip or 2 and hang from a rope on a 80 foot rock wall.  But I will be looking at it from a different perspective now.  The joy is still there.  The desire to help, to learn, to be challenged.  It just won’t take all my free time to do it.

So, I find myself looking back at the last 10 years and all the time I spent with the Scout Troop, and looking forward to the time I will spend behind the lens.

Growing up, but definitely NOT growing old.