Getting old(er) has been an interesting experience—indeed, it is a privilege not granted to everyone—and I’m finding that GRATITUDE for the physical and mental changes and challenges that come with it helps me deal with what’s essentially ‘reality.’
My aches and pains are of the garden variety, and nothing serious, thank God. Truly. That’s not to say I’m not suffering the natural consequences of past bad behavior and previous poor choices, but today I’m willing to acknowledge my part and accept what is. Had I known then what I know now, I might have done things differently. God only knows.
Lately I’ve been expressing daily gratitude for remembering things. Things that require ‘memory,’ such as the sequence of tasks necessary to edit a photograph, or the series of events in a story I’m telling someone, or simply where I parked the car…when I’m successful at remembering something, I thank God. Memory is important to me.
I’m grateful not to be in denial and resistant to getting older—resorting to plastic surgery and such in an attempt to look younger. Instead, what I’m trying to do is just feel comfortable in my own old skin and be happy with the person I’m still becoming. That’s why it’s called growing old. I’m grateful to be alive. Sometimes saying, “Thank you,” is enough.
For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. ~ 2 Corinthians 4:16
