Tomorrow I am going to my sister-in-law's 50th birthday party. When did I suddenly get to be this age... that my friends and family are in their 40's and 50's or even more? To me age doesn't really matter most of the time, but when you say it out loud... "I am 45 " it does sound a little odd. It conjures up the picture in my head of grey haired middle aged people who like sherry and One Man and his Dog.
I am not like that at all. My in sister-in-law certainly doesn't look 50 and I really can't believe that my bother-in-laws are heading for 60. My god... how time flies when you are having fun... One minute you are wondering what to do at University... the next you are considering whether to let your hair go grey naturally or whether you should keep piling on the peroxide.
And the weird thing is that inside, no matter your age, you feel the same. Your soul doesn't change... its just the exterior shell that wrinkles a bit.I remember my Granny saying, when she was in her 70's and crippled with arthritis, that she felt like a 16 year old on the inside. At the time I didn't really understand, but now I am beginning to see. When you are young you think you can stave off old age by eating healthily and just being bloody minded. As time goes on and you wake up to discover your back's gone and you can't actually get out of bed without calling for your husband to set up a winch, you start to realise that you are out of control...
I begin to understand, more and more, that you really do have to sieze the day, carpe diem, make the very most of every opportunity given to you. If you want to wear purple, or sequins, or go dancing in the rain... then go and do it.
And another thing is that, as you grow older you become less distracted by people's exterior. You start to listen to what they say and you notice what they do, rather than thinking about how they look and how much money they might have. The age gap seems to disappear as the people who were once your superiors in age start to become friends and equals. I found myself, at a recent family party, enjoying the company of my aunts, not as my aunts, but as equals with similar interests.
Age is a funny old thing thing... oops, no pun intended... Well, enough of this... if I'm going to stay looking young, I need to get some beauty sleep!
3 comments:
Well said!
Well, said. I agree with you whole heartedly and I must say that as I get older, I find myself becoming more and more the person that I always wanted to be. I'm more tolerant, I'm more spiritual, I'm more confident.... I feel like the I'm the same, only the improved version.
It is strange isn't it? Youth, as they say, is wasted on the young!! S
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