Old age, I decided, is a  gift.

I am now, probably  for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to  be.  Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body ... the  wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt.
And often I am taken aback  by that old person that lives in my mirror, but I don't agonize over those  things for long.

 

I would never trade my amazing  friends, my wonderful life, my loving
family for less gray hair or a  flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become
more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own
friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not
making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't
need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to overeat,
to be messy, to be extravagant. I have  seen too many dear friends leave
this world too soon; before they  understood the great freedom that comes with aging.  

  Whose business is it if I choose to  read or play on the computer until 4 a.m, and sleep until noon?  


I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60's,  and if I, at the same time, wish to  weep over a lost love ... I will.


I will  walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and  will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying  glances from the bikini set.

 

They, too, will get  old.

 

I know I am sometimes forgetful.  
But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten ...
and I  eventually remember the important things.



Sure, over the years  my heart has been broken
How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when a beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion.

A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

 

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turn gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep  grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so any have died before their hair could turn silver.

I can say "no", and mean it. I can  say "yes", and mean it.


As you get older, it is easier to be positive.
You care less about what other people think.
I don't  question myself any more.
I've even earned the right to be wrong.  

  So, to answer your question, I like being old.

It has set me free.  
I like the person I have  become.  
I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day.

 

 

Author  unknown!

Today, I wish you a day of ordinary miracles.