Last Monday, my wife and I celebrated our thirtieth wedding anniversary. Three decades is a respectable length of time. More than sixty percent of my life. Nearly one billion seconds.
Since making our vows the earth has travelled over twenty-eight billion kilometres through space. The world has experienced a global financial crisis, two pandemics, and nearly thirty wars. America elected a black President followed by an orange one, the West Coast Eagles won three premierships, and we learned how to surf the internet on a tablet (a phrase which would have made no sense in 1993). We have lived in four different houses, including one in Brunei, and raised three children to adulthood. And, between the two of us, we've had nearly a dozen employers.
Thinking about all this, reflecting deeply on it, was something I was doing last weekend when Karen simplified it all for me.
'We are like a vintage car,' she said.
She was right. We are exactly like an old car. Sometimes we just need an oil change or new spark plugs, other times we might need to tear down the engine and rebuild it. Neither of us are skilled mechanics though, and so we have needed to spend time learning how to fix things. Occasionally, despite being careful, we put everything back together only to find we've an important part left on the bench. Other times, even when we think we've done everything right, the car doesn't start or it runs rough, and so we have to go back to basics and start again.
But, no matter what, we keep at it. Because we know that's what we need to do, and because we know it's the work that makes it worth it.
'Cause we've both been doing our best
Skirting 'round the edges of perfect
Darling, I know this
It's the work that makes it worth it
It's the work that makes it worth it
The Work, Frank Turner