I just turned 73, and
when I think about it, the words of my dear mother come immediately to
mind. She just turned 70 when she
said, “Billy, I don’t feel seventy”.
At the time I mistakenly assumed she was referring to how she did or did
not feel physically, however, as I now look back on seventy I realize what she
really meant.
As a young man I assumed
that as I aged physically, I would also age mentally and emotionally, seeing
and responding to the world with a mind-set that was unique and characteristic
of the elderly, because old people were different from young people, not just
physically, but mentally and emotionally… or so I thought. I have since learned otherwise. Yes, the years take their toll on our
bodies, and the accumulation of our experiences undoubtedly affects our
attitudes and belief systems, but at our core, the essence of who and what we
are remains unchanged. We see the
world through the same eyes, we receive and process the input from daily living
with the same hopes and fears that have defined us for all of our years. I don’t look the same as I did ten
years ago; I have aches and pains that I’ve never had before, and I am keenly
aware of the fragility of my future, but beyond that, I don’t feel like I am
seventy-three.
Now
1 comment:
This is a great post! And very timely! Happy birthday!
I find the same idea holds true when one is retiring from their job... people think I suddenly have the outlook of an 'old' person, and they are looking at me differently. It's hard to deal with, isn't it? You want to tell them, "just wait, you'll see."
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