My Thoughts On Aging

 

 I am 55 years old and feel so young and alive! I don’t think I will ever reach ‘old age’ because it appears to be a very elusive creature. It keeps jumping out ahead of me before I can catch it. I look around me and I see where old age starts and know I will be there soon, but by the time I reach that age, it’s moved on ahead of me another ten years!

When I was about five years old I thought my mother was old. My grandparents were ancient. Anyone over 20 seemed old to me at the time. As the years past and I became a teen, my perspective on age changed. I knew that being twenty something wasn’t old at all. Even so, I viewed any one past thirty as ‘getting up there’ in age. My grandparents still seemed ancient to me.

I graduated high school and went to work. Once again my perspective on age changed. I was 18 when I married. At my wedding, I remember thinking how nice my mother looked, for her age. Mom was 37 at the time. My grandparents were at my wedding and they still looked ancient to me, as though time hadn’t changed them at all.

During the next eight years I was blessed with three children. My youngest daughter was born when I was 26. At this point in life I felt so young and alive! I knew that being twenty something wasn’t old after all. Being thirty something wasn’t old either. Anyone pat the 40 year old mark was on the decline in my mind.

One morning I woke up and discovered I was 30. That was a shock but I looked in the mirror and discovered I looked just fine! I wasn‘t getting old. What a relief that was. By now my mother was nearing the big 50 and beginning to show her age. People in their 40‘s weren‘t old at all. Those over 50 were on the brink of old age and only those past 60 were really old.

By the time I reached the age of 40 this age thing was a big issue to a lot of my friends. I looked in the mirror and I still saw the same person I‘d saw ten years earlier. I felt young and alive and ready to conquer the world. I looked all around me and realized I still wasn’t old. Again I felt a tremendous relief in this discovery. Mom was nearing 60 now and looking great to me. After all being fifty something was a good age to be! Sure, those in their 60’s were beginning to age, but I noticed that the only people who appeared old to me were those past the 70 year old mark.

Life progressed quickly from the age of 40 to 50. On my 50^th birthday I looked in the mirror and was pleased with the reflection I saw. I certainly didn’t feel old. I laughed because I felt so young and alive, but remembered a time when I thought anyone over 50 was ancient. I realized they were still young and vibrant. Mom was now close to 70 and she was looking fine. She didn’t look old to me at all. Once again, I stopped and looked at the people all around me. I knew a lot of people in the 60 to 70 year old range and none of them were old. The only folks who seemed old to me were those that were well past the age of 80.

In conclusion, I have decided that ‘old age’ is a state of mind. I cannot deny the fact that they body doesn’t always cooperate with the mind as the years pass. The body can be a very stubborn thing, but even so, I refuse to let it have control over my mind. When I was a youngster, I knew that someday I would be old, if I lived long enough. Today I realize this is still a possibility and that I may eventually catch the elusive creature we call ‘old age.’ Even so, for now I know that I’m still young and have a lifetime ahead of me to continue the chase. No matter how close I get to catching up with Old Age, it always moves another ten years away. This is one race I hope to never win.

ã Copyright 2005 Sherry L Gibson. All rights reserved.