I heard the 80’s song Forever Young this morning, and it held particular meaning as I’ll be saying goodbye to my 40s later this month.

The refrain includes the question: Why can’t we be forever young?

For the first time, a satisfying answer struck me. It’s so that we can watch our children grow.

If we lived forever, we couldn’t have children (lest we run out of room.) With that simple realization, my anxiety over aging melted away and a tremendous sense of satisfaction took hold in its place.

I would trade a forever-life for life with my children any day. I’ll be keeping that in mind as the years pass. With this new perspective, I hope to never bemoan the passage of time again. And now that I know what I traded for them, I’ll be spending even more time with my kids.