Recently Reya, at The Gold Puppy discussed getting older and what age range now constitutes middle age.
The post made me wonder why getting older has such a bitter taste to it for many people.
What is wrong with getting old? I commented on Reya's blog that I had dozens of good reasons for enjoying getting older.
Later I thought that perhaps I should put my money where my mouth was and set about to articulate some of those reasons. I quickly found the following, and I couldn't stop at just 12 reasons...
If you too are of a certain age and are enjoying getting older, please share with me your reasons for feeling that way...
*
Spot on, all these lovely comments.
ReplyDeleteRosaria, that's great. I have one supporter of - enjoying getting older...
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on age Hazy Moon. I don't think younger people understand what they're missing.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time I hasten to add that age is not all beer and skittles - I'm 72 - and I get cranky when my body won't keep up with my brain, even though mostly it still does.
I don't seem to have enough time. And I still don't exercise as much as I'd like because I find I have to ration out my energy and time between my tasks and the things I really want to do for myself.
My tasks include helping people. I am tossing up whether it is wise to hide the fact that I have skills ...
That said, I still walk and ride my bicycle (and drive my car). And have a balanced opinion of the knowledge and wisdom thatI have gained over the years.
June - I am so glad to hear all that. I'm 56 and reasonably fit and healthy but I do notice that waning stamina creeping in. I think it's a great gift to be able to share your skills and wisdom. After all isn't that what we CRONES are supposed to do?
ReplyDeleteI'm having a hiatus after working, raising family, and doing voluntary work and I'm now indulging my interests until I am ready to give more time to the community again.
Thanks for your contribution June.
I'm 34, and always interested in the perspectives on aging by women. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHopefully I get old!..thank you for the information today this is very useful,I can relate to some of the thing said by you already Delwin but,getting wrinkles a different look the occasional Grey hair is something that slowly has to grow on me!..I do set these moments aside by saying: who cares as long as I have good health i can do anything!
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely evening
Ludwig Borne wrote:
ReplyDelete"Losing an illusion makes you wiser than finding a truth."
You've done a very nice job of thinking of all the compensations of age. Getting older helps us become more efficient in our pursuit of happiness.
Though we may have less energy and drive, we can achieve more happiness by engaging in only the few activities that produce happiness.
I would guess that many people dislike aging for two reasons: (1) because each day brings us closer to our final day, (2) most of us develop health issues that result in various aches and pains we never experienced in our younger years.
Hi Mona, no I agree the wrinkles and the grey hair are annoying and the occasional ache slows you down but all the rest is good.
ReplyDeleteI will have a lovely evening with son#2 and wife for dinner. Thank you.
Dan, how are you?
ReplyDeleteI like Ludwigs view. We had so many illusions or things we wanted to believe when we were younger.
And I agree with your pursuit of happiness field being narrowed down. We have a better idea where to look now.
Thanks for your valued contribution.
Welcome Maggie May, It's nice to meet you...
ReplyDeleteI like an inquiring mind, please drop by and join in any time...
Dan, P.S. I looked back over my reasons and felt that I hadn't really mentioned finding happiness per se. I have covered it under other topics specifically 'the kingdom of heaven', but wish I had written one reason solely on Happiness. So thank you for doing it for me.I'm glad you came by.
ReplyDeleteLovely thoughts and always in serch of happiness the poise way. Congrats Delwyn your life has always been joyful....& meaningful and with clear purposes written!
ReplyDeleteHello yoon see, thank you for your comments.
ReplyDeleteMy life has been blessed - you are right, but joy and meaning are largely what you must find yourself.
Delwyn, I love your reasons and they are stated so beautifully. I'll have to put together my reasons and there are many things I like about growing older. 1. Many of the fears and anxieties of the young are gone (new ones may surface, but for now, not so). 2. The time used for working or rearing a family has been freed up to do different things that can enrich our lives.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post as always.
Love,
Lizzy
As I get older, I find have to use that 'zoom in' control on the bottom right of the screen more and more...
ReplyDeleteI also have a security now that I didn't have when younger.
You have put a lot of thought and poetry into your reflections.
Besides photos, I started my blog to think about memories and aging gracefully...Originally my blog was going to be named "Aging Gracefully"...I have yet to write much about it but think about it frequently...At 58 I'm at a similar stage in life as you seem to be...taking a break from work and enjoying family and myself more... Because of my mother's early death at 62 and my sister's terminal illness at 59, and my work as a geriatric nurse I have been attempting to come to terms with aging on a personal level...
ReplyDeleteAll the reasons you provide are valid but it is the last one that really called to me. I am anti-Faustina by nature, and the art (yes, my dear, it's an art!), the art of ageing proves my anti-Faustian tendency. Whereas for Mephistofeles human beings' loftiest ideal is that of absolute knowledge, I turn that theory on its head, thus, castigating Beelzebub, and proclaim that the more we age, the more interested we become in life, and what it has to offer. Hence the Sanskrit poem in my blog's profile became my mantra many years ago and since then I have not looked back. I look forward to my twilight years, knowing that I still have a lot to learn. Thanks for a most wonderful post.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from London.
Age is just a number in my books.
ReplyDeleteEverything you say though rings true to me too!
I enjoyed the thoughts. I think I need to read things like that daily to remind me who I am. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHello Lizzy, thanks for contributing your ideas and I would love to hear more.
ReplyDeleteI love that delicious feeling that I am king of my realm in terms of where I put my time, energy and questing after years and years of responsibilities and duties.
Hi Violet, Nice to chat with you,
ReplyDeleteDang the glasses!
The reasons just rolled out, and formed their own prose.
Happy days
Hello Oliag. at the coalface of aging and having first hand experience as you have had it sounds as if you are feeling an imperative to age gracefully with thought and intention.
ReplyDeleteMy kind of girl!!!
Mr Cuban, what a beautifully literary response today, you got me thinking.
ReplyDeleteSo I suppose that makes me an anti faustian too...I like that...
As Dan said above, as you age you get better at recognising the places that give you happiness and concentrate your energies there.
I also think that as you age you find joy and happiness a lot more easily in the small and simple things.
After walking through over 1/2 of life you readjust your value system. Some things just don't seem important anymore, others take on a heightened sense of value or beauty.
There is not such a frenetic search to savour all of life to find the big highs.
And the things you learn both actively and passively seem more exciting and rewarding.
Hello California Girl,
ReplyDeleteI have just made a fleeting visit to your place and spied Joelle's beautiful work. I'll be back this afternoon for a cuppa and a long read.
So welcome to my spot and thanks for your comments, I love to have a chat.
See you this afternoon...
happy days
Welcome Sarah to my neck of the woods. Its nice to have you here.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately age is a number that shows up in, amongst other things - the optometrist's report...and in various other indications of the deterioration of the body, even tho' the mind wants to believe that it is still 20.
But life is good...
with the wisdom of a 22 years old...i'm afraid, there is not much of anything that i can say to convince anybody about the beauty of getting older.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it is only understandable why older people tends to envy the younger ones. but age is not a competitive issue. and as i get older, i discover many new things that will only make my life richer and full - creating a better understanding of self, of people and of life. now living as a 22, i can't wait to see more and do more - i don't ever want to go back. because from where i see it, the view here is much clearer than a few years before. Each day, i live...at times, as a 10 year old...sometimes, as sweet 17..up to the age where i am now. So, my age..they are just numbers. Numbers that are used not to record how many days left to live but instead, how many days that i have truly lived.
so life, bring it on!
This is wonderful and beautiful, too!
ReplyDeleteI have many many reasons to be thankful that I've matured. All that stuff that used to seem So Damn Important? Now I think it's all very silly to have spent all those years worrying.
The paradox though is the diminishing energy and strength of the body, and all that goes with that.
I do find middle age weird, but I shouldn't complain. Thank you!!
Delwyn, I really enjoyed these. I am 49 and have begun to realize the strengths you've posted in the past few years. When I was young I had no idea that life would coalesce so well.
ReplyDeleteMoonshin - sweet 22...
ReplyDeleteI think you have a fine philosophy and I really love your analogy about the higher we climb up the proverbial mountain the clearer our view becomes...
Of course all stages of life are marvellous and have their own lists of benefits, but if you realize now at 22 that living fully does not just mean cramming as much as you can into each day, week, year, then you are walking with a very solid and meaningful purpose.
Reya, hello to you and thanks for the prompt for this post.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had made a specific card about changing values for this post - I knew when I rushed it off that the list would not be exhaustive but I seem to have left out an important reason.
I can add it later...with others I find.
I am glad that at the same age as me you consider yourself to be middle aged! I hope we stay in that category for a while yet...
happy days
Hi Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteMy parents seemed to me to be so much older when they were at this age. When I look at photos of my mother in her 50s she already had slipped into old age. Perhaps we have had to reset the time line.
We seem to be doing what some may consider 'younger' things longer...
It's a thrill to feel this joy in the way life settles...
I love your words on the images about getting older!
ReplyDeleteI do not feel as if I am getting older, just free-er on the inside, as if the inner things are getting brighter and brighter.
Hi Raph,
ReplyDeleteI love the way you said that, brighter and free-er on the inside...
I agree there is a great sense of liberation from the many duties, commitments, expectations, illusions and delusions we carried...