[392cobra]

Ron,
Here is another way of looking at growing older.

LIKE BEING OLD!


The other day a young person asked me how I felt about being old. I was
> taken aback, for I do not think of myself as old. Upon seeing my reaction,
> she was immediately embarrassed, but I explained that it was an
> interesting
> question, and I would ponder it, and let her know.
>
> 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_-but I don't agonize over it 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 avant
> 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 until 4 am, and sleep until noon?
> I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 50's & 60ies, and
> if I at the same time wish to weep over a lost love, I will. 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? 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 many 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 anymore. I've even earned the
> right
> to be wrong.
>
> So, to answer the 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. For the first time in my life, I don't have
> to
> have a reason to do the things I want to do. If I want to play games on
> the
> computer all day, lay on the couch and watch old movies for hours or don't
> want to go to the beach or a movie, I have earned that right. I have put
> in
> my time doing everything for others, so now I can be a bit selfish without
> feeling guilty.
>
> I sometimes feel sorry for the young. They face a far different world
> than
> I knew growing up, where we feared the law, respected the old, the flag,
> our
> country. I never felt the need to use filthy language in order to express
> myself. And they too will grow old someday.
>
> I am grateful to have been born when I was, into a kinder, gentler world.
>
> Yes, I like being old!