I think we can use age to be an excuse for many things.??
"He's only a baby," so they don't sleep on a schedule or walk or talk or anything that exceeds the expectations of that age.?
?"Terrible twos." An excuse? An explanation? Once again, a two-year-old gets away with things that may be frowned upon if they were older.??
"Teens" - that's a loaded one. I had a friend who often said her children lost all of their brain cells when they turned 12. I have three children, each of them completely and totally different as they lived through their teen years. Once again, we expect (or don't expect) certain things of this age group. ??
"Twenty something," the age of living and trying new things. An age where some settle down and others try out their wings. It is an age of experimentation, of living a life you haven't lived before. Or not.??
"My life began at 40!" is the proud exclamation of my mom. I believed she was right, so my 40s sparked some great beginnings for me.I was grateful my body continued to work the way it always has. Others aren't so lucky.??
"Fifty is just cruel" was a comment I heard when I was in my 40s. Yet I looked at my mom and reflected on all that she did in her 50s and I saw no reason why reaching the half century mark should be any different than the rest of my life. I walked into my 50s embracing the new life ahead of me.??
My sisters are nine and 11 years older than me. I get a preview of the decade ahead, before I live it. My sisters are pretty good role models and I haven't seen anything but good things in store. They settle in and enjoy the lives they have created enjoying their adult children and grandchildren. It looks like good times to me.
I have spent countless hours listening to my mom and her sisters visiting. One time, I recapped one of those visits as "hearing loss, cataracts and funerals." Hmmm, what does lie in wait for me as the decades slip by?
Then I heard Dr. Daniel Amen's 18/40/60 rule: "When you're 18, you worry about what everybody is thinking of you; when you 40, you don't give a darn what anybody thinks of you; when you're 60, you realize nobody's been thinking about you at all."?
?I've decided I don't need to wait for age 60 to gain that wisdom and live life with a gusto.??
At age 50, I found myself starting to try new things. On my own. I didn't need the security blanket of taking someone along with me to find that courage.??
At age 50, I did not let others slow me down. If I wanted to do something, I did it. On my own, with a friend or making friends as I forged my way. At age 50, I just went for it! I made plans, set goals, set limits and was true to myself.??
Age is just a number. It's what is going on inside of you that counts. I plan to remain "27 forever." It was the age when I started making healthy choices for myself and my children. It was an age when I packed up my family and started a new life. It was an age when I truly began to live.??
Sometimes, I think it just can't get any better than this. Then it does.??
I plan to keep living my life, being amazed that it can just keep getting better!??
To 50 and beyond!
