So many people fear getting older. Another year, another wrinkle, another pound, another gray hair. In this day and age of old is out and younger is best, can it be possible to be happy about aging? Absolutely.
Looking back, what a difference a year makes. This time last year, I was warried and worried, dealing with the repairs to the family compound from the Category 5 hurricane. I think about all that has happened in this past year, and the promise of another year of getting older, as I feel the new pains in my body and hear the new sounds from my bones. And yet., I am happy and grateful for each year. I am not afraid of getting older, never have been.
How can I not be worried about the life or the future? The way I see it, worry is almost a badge of honor these days. If you aren’t awake at night worried, then you aren’t anyone…and do you even have a life? If you aren’t worried then you are obviously not an important person, because important powerful, people are always worried.
Yet, I sleep well. Oh, I still, have my list of irrational worries – like do I have enough laundry detergent for everything? Or that I don’t think there are enough sit ups in the world to give me a six pack. Or did I remember to turn the coffee pot off this morning? Or did my cats will bring more gifts of snakes, chipmunks, or mice? And I start to worry that maybe there is something wrong with me. There must be something wrong with me if I am not worried, right?
Wrong. I think that sometimes we worry ourselves right out of a happy life. Let’s face it, there will always be problems and issues in life, because rarely is everything perfect. But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy it anyway. And those things are going to be there whether we worry about them or not. Legitimate worry can be channeled into positive action. But unnecessary worry keeps us from sleeping and loving life.
Take a deep breath. Ask yourself if whatever it is will matter in 1 year, 5 years, ten years from now? Most of the time the answer will be no. Because our lives could be very different in 10 years, 5 years, even 1 year, even 6 months from now.
And maybe I say this after the wisdom of living 46, almost 47 years. Because each day is a gift and you don’t want to spoil it with all kinds of worry about things you can’t change. Enjoy the process of getting older. Society says we should worry about those aches and pains, vanity says we should worry about those wrinkles…but that worry only steals our joy for today. And I have never been one to listen to what society says anyway. Maybe I am getting rebellious in my years. Or maybe I am just thankful for each day, and the opportunity to have more wrinkles.
Life is short. Work hard. And if it won’t matter in 5 years, take a deep breath and do the best you can. If it really is about the journey as much as the destination, then you have to find the joy in there somewhere. Celebrate life, getting older, and tell worry to go bother someone else. You are too busy enjoying getting older and better and happier.
Maybe what makes us beautiful as human beings is the knowledge deep down where the Soul Meets the heart and the Heart beats quietly, that no matter what darkness is around us that light will always run through us. Maybe it’s that what makes us beautiful is the belief, the love, the audacity, the face, The Bravery, the honesty, to truly believe that the light will always conquer the dark.
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