I must admit, I hate getting old. I especially hate looking old. I just turned 49 a few months ago but recently a pilot thought I told him that I'd been flying for 44 years!! I only realized he misheard me when he said that I looked good for flying for 44 years. (You can imagine how high I was riding after that conversation). I wanted to tell him I wasn't even 44 years old! Of course, he was just a boy.

Seriously, when did all these boys start flying our airplanes? Frankly, some of their landings feel like a little boy landed it. Not too long ago, after a particularly rough landing, the flight attendant was able to say with assurance, "use caution when opening the overhead bins, as your luggage HAS shifted about during landing."

I've always had a problem with caring too much what I look like. When I was in 7th grade I made the unfortunate decision to get the oh-so popular Dorothy Hamill hair cut. It was a time in my life when I desperately wanted to look like a girl but, evidently, the new cut threw into question exactly what I was and I was mistaken for a boy on more than one occasion. It was devastating. I can at least by thankful that I'm no longer a "Pat." If you're not familiar with Pat, tune into some Saturday Night Live episodes from the 90's and watch the hilarious confusion over exactly what Pat is.

Believe me, I'm not telling my sad story because I'm trolling for compliments...although a few assurances that I really don't look like I've been flying for 44 years wouldn't be unwelcome. But no, I have a mirror. "Yeaaah...I see it." (Only fellow flight attendants will get that line.)

I know time is marching on and that aging is inevitable, but it is difficult not to get discouraged at the ever increasing pace of the march. I've always believed that my job makes time go by even faster, maybe because we live by the month rather than the week, or maybe because we cross time zones and lose track of what day it is.

I try and remind myself that the most important thing is what's on the inside. "Pretty is as pretty does" and all that. Every day I see suffering and sadness that makes me being bothered by someone thinking I've been flying for 44 years seem particularly shallow.

Fortunately, I do know that this world and all its suffering is not the end of the story, which is probably why I've always loved 2 Cor. 4:17-18: "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." Yes!