LIFE ON GROWING OLD

The following was sent to me by a very good friend.
I don’t know its source, but I believe it is worth sharing with everyone.

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 kinder 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 avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, 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 or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60 &70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is 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 gets hit by a car? 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 turning 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.

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 your 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. And I shall eat dessert every single day (if I feel like it).

MAY OUR FRIENDSHIP NEVER COME APART,
ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART.

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Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be.

The last of life, for which the first was made.
……..Robert Browning

Old age isn't so bad when you consider the alternative.
……..Maurice Chevalier

A man must have grown old and lived long,
in order to see how short life is.

………Arthur Schopenhauer

We get too soon old and too late smart.
…….Pennsylvania Dutch proverb

Every man desires to live long;

but no man would be old.

…….Jonathan Swift

The young are slaves to dreams;

The old are servants of regrets.

……Author Unknown

Do not regret growing older.
It is a privilege denied to many.
…….Author Unknown

Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon,

and wise too late.

……Benjamin Franklin