3rd of a century (almost) deep thoughts

Waking up this morning it dawned on me (sorry for the pun) that I have been alive for nearly a third of a century. Putting things into a larger perspective that's a decent amount of time. The cold war has ended, along with apartheid, the global make-up of countries has changed dramatically, major ecological events have started in motion including the extinction of a vast array of species and the impending threat of global warming. All of the big stuff in the world has little effect most days on little old (but still very young at heart) me. I've seen the passing of a few of those two generations before, and the birth of two in the next generation. Looking back I can see the wonder that my parents had a third of a century before. Long before the age of the computer and the internet. Long before cell phones and I-Pods and I-phones (when will the cell-pod come out?). Long before the rampant commercialism of the current age when everyone needs to buying something to feel like they're in 'the now'. And what I feel matters is the how. Waking up every morning for the rest of my life feeling 'what difference can I make today?'; 'who's life will be positively changed by the time I rest my head on my pillow?'; 'How many times can I hug my kids before they get dressed in the morning?'; 'In what ways can I show my wife how much I really love her?'. The bigger questions for me are where will I be in another 1/3 of a century, and where will my kids be? What will they write at this age and how will they write it? I know that I'll still be asking myself those 4 questions and striving to make better answers. I'll write again when I get there.