Aging Benefits

I want to make some observations today about getting older. You and I are both doing it, even the newborn baby puking and mulling in his crib is. It is inevitable to get old, but society fears it, sometimes even denies it (those tummy tucks and face lifts are proof enough). I am not sure of being older is better than being younger because it s depends on how old and how young. Surely, a person would rather be 21 than 81, but I thin most would prefer to be 21 than 2. Ask any two year old and he or she will tell you he wishes he were older.
One thing that is interesting about aging is that the physical body ages faster than the mental state. Well, if not, at least it shows faster. True memory worsens with age, but we can hide our mental age (forgetting and not thinking as fast as those 16 year olds with the lightening quick replies) more easily because the experiences we gain through aging actually makes us wiser and "smarter". But the body is an obvious manifestation. It sags and wrinkles increasingly with age and no matter how much one does to prevent the sagging and wrinkling it is there for everyone to see.
I wish those pretty girls would look at me more and flirt with me a little, but then again, it might be good to sag a little. People tend to take pity on us and even give us a seat on a subway because we look like we need one. Why, their expectations for us are lower and when we get that inevitable pot belly they just say "He is old now, what do you expect". Another benefit is the military won't bother us to fight in those wars old men and women create for young men and women to fight.
True, with age we decline physically, become sick more often, and feel tired too much. But by the time we are in our 30's life isn't so new anymore. We have seen it all and done most. There is no need to run around "experiencing" things to the point of exhaustion. Older age is a gift. I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body - but I don't agonize over it for long. I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra donut, or for not making my bed, or for buying that junk at the dollar store that I don't need. I am entitled to overeat, to be messy, to be extravagant. I have seen too many dear people leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.
Over the years my heart has been broken a few times. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or see someone you love hurting? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect. I like to quote on of my favorite lines, the old Irish axiom that "If you live long enough the world will break your heart." Maybe it's good to have a broken heart a few times. It makes a person appreciate the unbroken ones a little more.
I see the very young, the teenagers and early twenties living frantically, trying too hard to have fun, to find a career, to find a mate to acquire money.....Once a person gets in the mid twenties all those things seem less important. They are becoming "old". I like being "old". It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. I don't have to have a reason to do the things I want to do. If I want to play games on the computer all day, lay on the couch and watch old movies for hours or don't want to go to the beach or a movie, or help others in need. I have earned the right to make my choices free from the burdens of being too young.
I sometimes feel sorry for the young. They face a far different world than I knew growing up, where we feared the law, respected the old, the right to be different instead of politically correct. I have never felt the need to use filthy language in order to express myself, or to be dishonest or hurtful to others.
I am grateful to have been born before cell phone and being connected made humans even more disconnected to other humans. Those seem to be badges of honor for so many young (and some older ones too) today. But I don't worry. they will grow up soon, toss aside their cell phones and becoming connected with who really matters....people, old ones, young ones and those in between.