I’ve been set free: I love growing old

Thank you to Karen for sending this through – she doesn’t know the author but thought it was a nice sentiment to pass on to us:

As I’ve aged, I’ve become kinder to myself and less critical of myself: I’ve become my own friend.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world, too soon before they understood the great freedom that comes with ageing.

Whose business is it, if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM, or sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 50, 60 and 70s, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love, I will.

I will walk the beach in a swimsuit 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. They, too, will get old.

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, or even when somebody’s beloved pet is hit by a car? But, broken hearts are what give us strength, understanding and compassion. A heart never broken, is pristine and sterile, and never knows the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning grey and to have my youthful laughs forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

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.

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)!

What do love about getting older? What have you embraced as you have aged? Is being young all it’s cracked up to be or is the secret in our later years? Share your thoughts below.