Getting Older - My Way

I just celebrated my 60th birthday. It is momentous not because of the year, but because of how far I've come.

I first noticed how I felt about getting older when I turned 45; I had quite a struggle with it. Then, on my 50th birthday, I felt excitement at what the 50's would bring, as well as a deeper feeling of discomfort at getting older. Turning 55 must not have effected me much at all, since I don't even remember it.

Being 60 feels quite different than I imagined it would be when I was much younger. I thought I would be gray-haired, dumpy-shaped, have aches and pains, and feel grumpy a lot. I thought I would be like my mom's generation was at 60 - "an elderly person"; a "senior citizen".

I do not feel elderly nor senior, and when I look in the mirror, I don't really see elderly or senior, either. I do see a baggy neck, yes, and deeper wrinkles around the eyes and at the corners of my mouth. I see a body that has thickened in the middle and thighs that hold on to fat in a different way than I would like.

And I see a woman with brown hair cut in a current style (as opposed to gray in a short perm), a woman who still has shiny eyes when she smiles, a woman who has a spring in her step and who can hold her own when it comes to modern technology.

I haven't gotten old, and I am very happy to discover that. I am older, but not old. I still want to travel, do new things, meet new people, and learn more ways of enjoying every minute. I am alive and vibrant, in my opinion. And I plan to keep it that way for quite a few more years.

I've decided that - at least for me - age is not a number, but an attitude.