AGE CONCERN - it's just a number! But is it really...
They say, 'It's just a number Saz, it'll be fine!'
So this is the mantra I have been hearing from people, for the past 11 months since my 59th birthday. Of course, I know it will be 'fine', I'm not totally stupid, but fine just doesn't cut it. I want something more.
Each decade brings changes, realisations, some call it a watershed, at 30, 40 or 50. I felt it at fifty, and yes change/shit did hit the proverbial shovel, but the changes which happened unwittingly over previous decades only registered upon retrospect, the wisdom comes with and beyond the changes and time served.
So the gist of it is they say, that the number won't make any difference, as it's how I feel that matters and it is exactly this. It is how I FEEL which I realise has changed so markedly in recent months. But crucially this change is because of becoming this age, they ARE linked. So indeed yes, emphatically so, the number is important. And therein lay the power.
So the gist of it is they say, that the number won't make any difference, as it's how I feel that matters and it is exactly this. It is how I FEEL which I realise has changed so markedly in recent months. But crucially this change is because of becoming this age, they ARE linked. So indeed yes, emphatically so, the number is important. And therein lay the power.
I do know these truths; I will be 60 in under two weeks. I will be unhappy with the number, that's a given, but I will be pleased, nay grateful, that I am still here and in one wonky piece. I have lived and loved my heart out and I have experienced many wonderful and some bad times that life has offered me, in the gradual run up to this moment of growth and realisation.
I do also know that suddenly I really don't give a shit what anyone thinks or says, unless it resonates, informs or inspires me. I am relatively healthy, I see my big kids now and then, I have two lovely dogs (and a cat, need I say more?) which keep me active and out there. I am no longer an almost OAP, as the government in their wisdom have given me another 6 years until that fate.Which is another vehemently felt post entirely. I have a small business, projects of various types on the go, which maintain the grey matter and I have a bucket list full of dreams which I call my 'fuckit list'.
Both my heart and mind remain open and I think that is all that matters. So bring it on.... I ain't dead yet!
I do also know that suddenly I really don't give a shit what anyone thinks or says, unless it resonates, informs or inspires me. I am relatively healthy, I see my big kids now and then, I have two lovely dogs (and a cat, need I say more?) which keep me active and out there. I am no longer an almost OAP, as the government in their wisdom have given me another 6 years until that fate.Which is another vehemently felt post entirely. I have a small business, projects of various types on the go, which maintain the grey matter and I have a bucket list full of dreams which I call my 'fuckit list'.
Both my heart and mind remain open and I think that is all that matters. So bring it on.... I ain't dead yet!
I'm with Dylan Thomas on this one;
"Do not go gentle into that good night but rage, rage against the dying of the light."
Saz
Saz
As a 67- year-old my big decade approaches and it makes me feel ancient, although in reality I do not look or feel that old. Inside I feel about 28. It is pointless fighting it, as it's going to happen anyway, so embrace it and think you are a 21-year-old with 39 years' experience.
ReplyDeleteI really LIKE that Addy!! 21 with 39 years experience....my new tagline...
ReplyDeletei am actually embracing it, letting go of stuff and 'stinking thinking', self first, wanna do it then I will, travel, paint, work at a minimum...thank you!! x
I think the lesson about not caring what others think is hard to learn. But once learned it frees one up enormously.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't worry about being an OAP - with this government the age will keep moving ahead of you! :-)
Great post Saz. Having reached that milestone last year I’m with you on all that thinking. Certainly makes me focus on what is important to me more...
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