Old Timer

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!
Old Timer

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!