As a fun experiment, Allison and I have been unearthing our favorite shows from when we were children. Our kids don’t always understand the references or analog lifestyle, but rewatching Full House has provided an opportunity to show our girls what life was like back then. Compared to entertainment of today, which is chock full of product placement, shock value and CGI, this TGIF anchor feels legitimately wholesome. The big family hug that concludes each episode still manages to warm my cold heart a touch. It’s also great to feel that 90s vibe again.

I knew it would finally happen. Fashion, as we know (but tend to forget), is cyclical. It was only a matter of time before the style of my youth came all the way back around. The track suits that make regular appearances in Full House would be totally fly in any seasonal lineup today. Those goofy cotton button ups sported by Uncle Joey would go for hundreds in Brooklyn. Nike Air Maxes, once a staple for aspiring cross trainers like myself, are flying off of shelves again. Suburban eight year olds are sporting mullets. I hear some folks are even putting up wallpaper again despite everything we learned. It’s all pretty hilarious.

With the distance between, a quick glance back in time would have you believing we were really kicking ass on the confidence meter. Hair was big. Patterns were bold and plentiful. Our clothing conquered the wind. I distinctly remember seeing the design package for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and thinking they really nailed it. Then, just like always, yin and yang did their thing. We decided none of that was cool anymore.

My forty first birthday was a few weeks ago, so farewell to this “I just turned 40” business. We’re progressing through the decade I was told for years would be my happiest. And you know what? Seeing it all cycle back around has provided a welcomed reminder.

My historically high blood pressure has been driven, more than anything, by worry about things outside my control. The future has always been an unknown beast that I have felt unprepared to wrangle. Having kids, a wife, and a few respectable animals to care for seemingly magnified this sense of dread. What I’ve come to realize, however, is I have fifteen thousand days worth of data to go off of. Statistically speaking, I can reasonably surmise what the future will hold, and it ain’t so bad. Those fears are largely unwarranted. I’ve also come to realize the following things will continue to hold true.

Your day is always more enjoyable in comfortable shoes.
Experiences are better than things, and those experiences are better with company.
More is rarely an improvement.
People are nicer if you just talk to them.
Most of things that keep you up at night are quite silly when you put them in perspective
It’s a lot easier to just be happy now. Nothing is actually stopping you from this.

For the first time in 20 years, I went in for an annual physical and my blood pressure was well within the normal range. I asked them to do it again. Hypertension has always been my thing. But maybe, just maybe, I’m finally gaining a little of the perspective that accompanies age.

More often than not, broken things can be fixed. Problems have a resolution out there somewhere. Good eventually raises its head in response to evil. I’ve spent my childhood and adulthood worrying about the future. But now I’ve lived long enough to see the same things be cool twice. It’s a lucid reminder of how silly we are to let fears about the future keep us from enjoying today.

Y2K came and went. The swarms of murder insects, prosthelytized on nightly news broadcasts since forever, have yet to arrive. All of those presents that people fought over on Black Fridays of yore are now in a landfill somewhere. Might as well accept that even as everything seems to change, it’s really just more of the same repackaged.

I suggest we play the long game and keep those tracksuits.