I am 60 years old

Today I am 60 years old. It has been an incredible journey. Who would have thought a farm boy from Idaho would have witnessed such remarkable changes, participated in such historic events, and associated with such wonderful people all along the way? Hopefully I have made some useful contributions to the world during the six decades I have been here.

Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008), one of the wisest men I have ever known and with whom my life intersected a few times, said many years ago: "Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he's been robbed. The fact is that most putts don't drop. Most beef is tough. . . . Life is like an old-time rail journey—delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride" (from a BYU devotional address in December 1973).

That rings true to me. Throughout life's journey I have loved and been loved, I have known both joy and sorrow, I have enjoyed both health and sickness, I have had a reasonable share of life's ups and downs.

I also like what his wife, Marjorie Pay Hinckley (1911–2004), once said: "The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache."

Good counsel indeed.

And, above all, I have tasted of the sweet fruits of the Lord's Spirit. I have basked in God's love. I have had glimpses of the glories that await if I remain true and faithful all the remaining days of my life, however many or few they may be.