dssimecek

Don't know who originaly wrote this, but it fits me. Migt be a few others that it fits too.

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 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 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!

kandgo

Well spoken[whomever wrote it] and I wholeheartedly agree, time does seem to take the edge off of things. I only hope that young girl will take the time to read what you have written and try to understand what it might do to her life if she figures this out a bit early. I want to thank you for posting this as I for one needed to read it. I am getting close to 50 which is still not old to some but I have not been accepting it well at all and this made me think about how I need to {{get over it and move on}}Goodluck,,Rick

doodah

Nice, I am 26 years old, but grew up around older siblings, I was the baby!lol, I often wish, after seeing news reports today and seeing what went on in yesteryear, some good, some bad, but I still wish that I could have been born 20 or 30 years befor, or even more then what I was, is this wrong?

pogorules

Yeah, but when Dubya gets your Social Security you will be dumpster diving to feed yourself instead of relaxing and enjoying your retirement years.

t-15 firefighter

Happy I don't pay into social security. Sorry for those of you that do. At least I "know" my retirement will be around once I retire.




dssimecek, great post.

At 35 I don't feel like I’m old but I can tell I’m not as young as I used to be. It takes me longer to recover from a "night out" then it used to. I would just as soon sit in the house and read a book as to go out every night like I used to. Oh... And my hair is starting to gray. Man... maybe I am getting old.

I look at the person I used to be and I am happy at the person that I have become. I still have many faults but I have the wisdom to realize what they are and the strength to try to change them. I am not perfect and never will be but I am better with age. I will probably look back 20 years from now and think how young and inexperienced I was at 35. But I look back to when I was 25 and realize how stupid and self-centered I was back then.

I am a better man with age.

Britt

bumpytruck

(quote)Happy I don't pay into social security. Sorry for those of you that do. At least I "know" my retirement will be around once I retire.
Don't be to sure, if Little Rock is anything like Milwaukee your politians will be tring to get their grimmy little hands on it for some social program or no interest loans to the jobless, we have to watch our city gov't like hawks, they are always sniffing around tring to get at it,DIRTY BAS---DS Working without a contract for1.5 yrs now and no end in site! We lost 50+ firefighter positions in the last 2 yrs. And they made 2 new administrative positions It gets old but we are better off than most!