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> Growing old is a gift
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> Growing old -- This made my day!
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> 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.
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> Old Age, I decided, is a gift.
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> 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 (who looks like my mother!), but I don't agonize over those
>things for long.
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> 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.
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> 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 a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.
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> I have seen too many dear friends leave
>this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes
>with aging.
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> Whose business is it if I choose to read
>or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? (This one I
>definitely can relate to on some days & eves!!)
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> I will dance with myself to those
>wonderful tunes of the 40 &50's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep
>over a lost love ... I will. (Dance~Dance!)
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> 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 jet set.
>(What do they know, anyway?!?!)
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> They, too, will get old.
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> I know I am sometimes forgetful. (For
>sure!!!!) But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I
>eventually remember the important things.
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> 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 somebody's 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.
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> I am so blessed to have lived long enough
>to have my hair turning 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.
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> (I always loved swinging on a swing!!)
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> 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.
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> So, t o 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. (If I feel like it)
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>i got this just now from my friend doug (hi doug )

i love it, so like i do with most things that i love, i share.
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