Lately, however, I find myself wondering when it's okay to feel old, to acknowledge the passing of time--a lot of time. After all, I now receive a cheque each month from the Government of Canada, my reward for surpassing sixty years. And our local Tim Horton's grants me a discount on my coffee each Tuesday, also for being not-young.
More and more, I'm learning to appreciate being a senior. To tell the truth, I never expected to live this long, thanks to health issues in my "prime" years. So I'm on bonus time and have been for several years. Each day is a gift, a reason to celebrate: I'm still alive!
Like the ancient trees in the photo, I want to stand tall, to protect the young saplings around me.
I absolutely love the Peanuts cartoon where Charlie Brown says, "Someday, we will all die, Snoopy;" and Snoopy responds, "True. But on all the other days, we will not." Which makes me ponder what I'm doing with all those "other days"? I don't want to sit around bemoaning my advancing age. I want to live life to the full, to wear out, not rust out.
So let the grey hairs shine. I'm going to embrace the gift of getting old.