Savvy, Sharp, Sincere Septuagenarian!

This is my month of Birth. I am going to be a young 70! With this changing world around us; everyone has different feelings and thoughts about getting older. Some people are afraid to get older while others anticipate it.

I do believe the older a person gets, the wiser they become, not only from gaining knowledge as they travel down the road of life but gaining experience and the sense to know, realize, and truly appreciate how their cards of life had been dealt in front of them.

I have had decades to develop resilience. I have learned to be kinder to myself as well as more honest and authentic. My voice speaks more loudly and more often for justice. I find I don’t need to pretend to myself and others that I don’t have needs. I say no to anything I don’t want to do. I listen to my heart and if I see an act of injustice, I forgo my patience, not to the point of anger, but to the point of relaying on my knowledge and wisdom of what is right. I am less angst-filled and more content, and even less driven about my responses, and not in any way to be antagonizing, just to be clear. In doing this, I can live in the moment with all its lovely possibilities.

As I approach my 70th year with the realization that, unless I have an above-average chance of reaching 120, I can't really call myself middle-aged anymore. I soften this realization by inventing a new category of age groups: "Early Mature"; anything to postpone the inevitability of having to identify myself as "Old". Also, the dictionary calls the group between 70-79, Septuagenarian, this is a mouthful and I am sure when said, most will look at you blankly! However, it does have “Sept” in it, which is short for September!! Old age really does creep up on you without you noticing. I still feel like a young woman. I still enjoy many of the things I enjoyed as a younger woman and even find I can keep at them longer, albeit largely because they take a bit longer. But there are clues, of course: My family and friends start looking older, policemen, politicians, and doctors start looking younger and it seems that every week there's a passing of one of the Superstars that defined my generation. But, you know what? I wouldn't be eighteen again if I was offered immortality. Whatever I call this age: "Late Middle Age", "Early Mature" or just plain "Old", this is the best time of my life. The pressures of youth to look cool, be competitive, be desirable, and generally live up to this image we think people have of us (or want people to have of us or think people should have of us) is hard to master and an impossible one to please. Life, in general, has become easier and a lot more comfortable. I can still pull on a nice pair of jeans and wear my hair long because so far it is still thick and pretty. I can put in four days of workout, but some days I just say it’s not a job, so I am just going to take a break. I have this privilege and most of all this choice.

The most wonderful thing I am doing in this “Early Mature” life is to write, write and write some more. No job or children to hold me back, and my brain still produces some good wordsmithing! Being published after all these years of hopes and dreams to share my stories, is a most rewarding experience.

Happy Birthday to me!!!