Are you ready for old age? Part 12

​Losing your identity is a common feeling as we grow older.  You have become so many people in your life, and now that you are elderly and maybe not working you feel lost.  Is it the job that makes you feel like you are somebody and when it is gone you feel like you have disappeared also? 
     So, the question is how do you grow older gracefully without losing yourself?
     I am a paramedic and only work part time.  When I am not at work, I really don’t miss the job, yet I am excited the days I go to work.  I feel like somebody I guess; a part of a team and I love the fact I get to help people. 
     My son and his wife and three kids are moving in with us.  We have at this time boxes in most of the house.  We are trying to put our STUFF together like one family for the next five years. My STUFF is old and theirs is a lot newer.  As we went through the kitchen, taking my STUFF out of the cabinets and putting in theirs, I have to admit, I was feeling a little lost. 
     I mean we have been in this house for 20yrs, and I can go to my kitchen cabinets blindfolded.  We took my STUFF out and put his STUFF in.  His STUFF is much prettier than mine, and looks a lot nicer. Yet in a way it feels like our identity is now gone.  I have talked him into keeping a couple of our things that I like to use, but mmmm, am I making any sense?
     Is the way your kitchen is set up or your furniture identify you?  I put in the back of my mind; it is only STUFF.  I can’t take the STUFF with me when I die, and my kids will just throw it away when I am gone. So maybe I am just doing this a little earlier, so they won’t have such a job to do later on in life.
     I think you have to take what God has given you and the chances he gives you to help others, to make your identity and not the STUFF you own, or your job. We do have to remember we are replaceable in the working world.        Especially now since we are considered old. 
    Right now, God has given us a chance to help raise three children. It won’t be as hard as when I was young. There are four adults in this job, not just two. And believe me, I am looking forward to this new adventure. 
    We have to put our minds on what is important, and remember our identity is not about STUFF or a job. It is about how we live our life and who we are able to help before the good Lord takes us home. 
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How are you losing your identity?