Aging with Grace

People around me are getting old. Some are dying; some are already gone. But I'm still here. I don't feel like I am getting old. I'm doing much more than just hanging on. I'm living fully with much that awaits on the event horizon of my life. What's the difference? I look in the mirror and don't see someone who is “over the hill” looking back. I don't make jokes about the wear and tear of life, nor do I identify with what I perceive as “slippage”. I feel like I am as young as I have ever been. These are the best days of my life. But a lifetime of experience has humbled me; perhaps I am wiser, and I have certainly lightened up. Where I may have been quick to judge, now I am more likely to feel solidarity or sadness at the tragic part of the human experience. Broken can still be beautiful.

I aim to be a person that widens, not narrows, with age. My contribution is what I give to the world each moment. That's a good enough legacy. I don't fret about the things I will never do; I'm too busy working through my ever- expanding bucket list. I'm not regretful about the “road not traveled”. I did it exactly the way I chose, and that was good enough. Everything happened exactly the way it was supposed to. If I want to do it differently, I'll do that the next time around.