DO I FEEL OLD?

Old age, I decided, is a gift; I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

People grow old only by deserting their ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up interest in life wrinkles the soul. You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt, as young as your self-confidence, as old as your despair. When your heart is covered with the snow of pessimism, then and only then, are you grown old.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turn gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver. I can say “no”, and mean it. I can say “yes”, and mean it. As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don’t question myself anymore. I’ve even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer the question…Yes, I like being old! It has set me free. I like the person I have become.

I sometimes feel sorry for the young, and they too will grow old someday.

I am grateful to have been born when I was, into a kinder, gentler world