Aging, Not Me!

Aging, Not Me!

“You don't stop laughing when you grow old, you grow old when you stop laughing.”
― George Bernard Shaw

Who wants to grow old? Someone told me "It's just a number!", and so once I crossed that threshold they call ‘senior citizen” I decided to protest. I began to hate the thought of being called old or senior.  After all for me, it had  always been “Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind it doesn’t matter”. Even then, ageing is going to happen whether we like it or not. So is it not better to face it gracefully than fight it.  I decided to live life king size and do all the things I did not have time for during my working and family years, right from learning craft on-line and making gifts for friends, to acting, to voicing, to pestering my actor friends and going to watch shoots, joining a women’s forum and organising workshops. What’s more, I even pushed my  husband to join a singing group even if I regret having to hear him sing loudly at home without a care in the world!  You can too find that one thing that was pushed on the back burner during those years when you were busy raising your family.  I am going to share with you some thoughts that you would have heard a million times, but may not have really registered it into your daily life.

Where do I start? Maybe from the day our children turn adults or maybe from the day we retire or maybe when we become grandparents. That’s when the mind begins to think “hey I am over the hill” and then you begin to feel it too. It’s that time when you are no longer burdened by responsibilities and demanding careers and the children are raised  A lost feeling takes over and then you take that morning walk in the park and look at people your age and ask yourself are they looking older than you or are you looking older? That’s where we go wrong, because it’s that time when actually “time” is yours, to use the way you want. Time comes free for you to use and spend and by the way who was that who said time and tide waits for no man. It will stop for you, if you can learn to use and control it. You get the point don’t you? so why are you putting it off saying "when I get the time?" The time is now and here already.......and “time” is what you have plenty off so make that beginning.  So just get started and don’t waste precious time. Make that wish list of things you had in the back of the head since long and would like to do before you leave this world. It doesn't have to be anything drastic like jumping of a plane or climbing Mount Everest, but if you can do that, well then go for it !!!!! Try just those simple things that you wished you had done earlier. I made new friends and then more friends by the day and as the family of friends grew, so did the activities that I could participate in like workshops, outings and new hobbies.

Do the things you like and of course things that make you happy. You won't be able to do everything like you used to, neither can I, but when I started doing things I loved...... then nothing came in my way - not even my creaking bones.  The more you begin to find new things to do the more engaging your life will become. So simply just fight fatigue of that afternoon long nap which is so common for us just because we feel nothing is waiting. Play word games and recall exercises by yourself, like I do often. Say a word for example, ‘senior’ and then a next word with the last alphabet “r” and so on and you will find yourself enjoying your own company too. I love to check out car numbers and making a total of the numbers just to keep that ticker in the head active. I looked for  shapes in the clouds, observe people, look for objects during a walk and recalling them when back home. You could join a class and learn something new not because you need to make a career of it but  just for fun.  How about sharing that expertise of yours with others?  Ageing does not necessarily need to stop us from learning. After all as someone said “there is a lot of valuable gold from experience that comes with the silver in the hair!” Break the boring routines and the change will make life interesting...... because "if you really want to do something, you will find a way.  If you don't you will find an excuse"~Jim Rohn

Most important of all; you and your spouse need not have to do the same things or share the same interests. After all, no two human’s like the same things anyways. So let loose your spouse to follow his/her interests and encourage each other to do whatever interests him/her and watch the bonding and sharing multiply multi-folds.  I believe that there is still loads to learn and enjoy beyond the certainty of growing old, but it’s up to me how to use that time and manage the later years of my life with grace, dignity and fulfillment.......and because .......