The inner game

"If you live to be 100, you've got it made. Very few people die past that age." -- George Burns, who lived to be 100 and then died.

Paul wrote a letter to the Corinthians while he was incarcerated.
He wrote, "We do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day."
Your skin may be wrinkling. Your hair may be graying up. Your face may be weary. Your body may be aging. Your reputation may be besmirched. Your persona may be changing, just depending on who you're talking to.
But there is also an inner you: Your character. Your spirit. Your soul.
The outer you shouldn't be a judge of character.
You have an invisible aura within you which allows you to choose with free will, which God benevolently granted us.
In 1 Samuel 16:7, God said, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
Indeed, never underestimate the human heart.
That's the inner you which embues you with compassion.
While writing about my parents on Mother's Day and Father's Day, I expressed my gratitude for the life wisdom they endowed in my heart.
I was praised by some for my compassionate, heart-filled writing.
That was a gift from God, and my parents.
Mickey Mantle, the New York Yankees great outfielder, worried that he would die at a young age.
But when he turned 60 he said, "If I had known I was going to live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself."
Paul claimed he was being renewed every day, even though he was in prison.
His mind and soul weren't chained. He was still a free man inwardly.
He prayed. He sang. He wrote. He fellowshipped. He worshiped. He hoped. And God renewed him.
His inner being was strengthened in faith, hope, love, poise, wisdom, patience, gratitude and joy.
We all should be that way, no matter our station in life.
We should live in such a way to prepare for eternity.