Tuesday, January 24, 2012

...about aging.

Getting old is serious stuff.  Our bodies are not as agreeable to be flexible as they were when we were thirty and we find ourselves having to get more and more things checked out so that our bodies keep working properly.  Our minds slowly change also and we start to find we must pause more to find the right word, the right thought, or the right memory to share with others.  Often times, I see comments about "old people" getting in the way or slowing down traffic or making shopping much harder for those younger folks who still have the "taken for granted" ability to zip in and out of situations with hardly a thought.  As we age, "zipping" becomes more of a memory than an actual way of moving.



So how do us older folks feel about this whole process?  To be honest, sometimes it is downright depressing to feel in the way holding up the works and making younger folks irritated.  But there is also an amusing side to all of this, too, because laughing at all the changes that age can cause is much better than moping over it.  We are aware that we are nearer the end of our lives than the beginning, but it lets down so many barriers that we do not have to worry about.  That can be fun.  While younger folks are still attempting to behave with decorum, we older folks have gained the right to just relax our behaviors.  It is easier to say what we truly feel, irritate people who are being obnoxious, and just generally have fun with it.  We can be easily open with our doctors, with our family members, with our friends, and with total strangers.  We have time to stop and fully embrace an appealing moment because there is no hurry to rush anywhere.  We can take a nap in the middle of the day without guilt.  We can do hobbies that appeal to us, take our time with them, and begin to let others do the "shoveling" of all the stuff we never liked to do anyway.

Yes, it is an interesting time...not at all what I expected, but still interesting.  Waking up is not taken for granted now but rather a honored blessing.  Being able to get around and do our day to day tasks is a true gift and one deeply appreciated.  It is so positive to not be wanting more "stuff" because we finally have the time to completely enjoy the things we already have amassed and never had the time to use fully.  We find ourself paring down on materialistic things just because we are tired to keep moving them about and dusting them...lol.  We enjoy having less space but with a very comfortable chair and our favorite things at our fingertips.  We finally understand the saying that "less is more".  Time passes much quicker and it is much more urgent to spend it in enjoyable ways and with enjoyable people and pets.  Life is definitely a mandala, spinning round and round, the seasons passing by quickly.  Hopefully, most of us find much humor mixed into the whole process.

Take care,
Liz




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