The other day my youngest grandson, Fischer, told me I was old. When I question him why, he was quick to reply.

FISH: You are old because you don’t get in the hot tub and ride your scooter around the yard like Poppy does.
ME: So that makes me old?
FISH: Yes, you could fall and get hurt getting into the hot tub or riding me on your scooter.
ME: Who told you that?
FISH: YOU

Of course, my reply had simply been a way of bowing out of something I didn’t want to do at the moment. What struck me odd was his idea of old age had nothing to do with outward appearance but rather having a young heart.

What self-imposed duties were robbing me of the joy of spending time with my grandkids? As I flipped through the rolodex in my head, I noted other conversations. Will you watch me ride my bike, print me coloring pages, watch a movie, rub my head, snuggle, read a story, help find rollie-pollies…? Sometimes the answer is yes, but more often a no.

I believe it’s time to scrap a few of my so-called priorities and reclaim a young heart. My grandkids won’t remember the things I have bought them, but they will remember the time we spent laughing, playing and experiencing life.  It’s time to exercise self-control and stop moving from task to task.

Are you spreading yourself too thin and no longer experiencing life? If the answer is yes, it’s time to develop a plan; time to ditch those self-imposed priorities that cheat you out of a young heart. Schedule your priorities, don’t let them schedule you. Life is too short. Leave this world riding a scooter, soaking in a hot or reading a bedtime story to your kids/grandkids.

“Show me, O LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath. Psalm 39: 4-5