I am new at the whole Blogging thing and am kind of at a loss about what to write about, so I've decided to write about aging and how it affects us... our judgments, our priorities, our outlooks. Sounds a little snoozeville, I know, but I will try to make this entertaining.
When I was little, I remember how ancient I thought my babysitter was... she was 16. I was enamored with her and thought it was cool that she could wear make-up and date... but to me she was ancient, nonetheless. My priorities were riding my bike or my sister's super awesome Powder Puff Big Wheel and whether or not we were having Bologna sandwiches for dinner since they were my favorite. My son asked me just yesterday, "Mom, 14 is really old, isn't it?"... "No son, 14 is not old!". This is why I have to tell my children that I am 23 and not my true age of (gasp, dare I say it......) 37. My word, can you imagine if I told them I'm 37???? They would think I am on my death bed!!!!
As a girl fresh out of college, if you would have asked me where I would be at 37, I would have guessed married with children, but I am quite certain that I would have no idea of a career path. My priorities then were dating boys with REAL jobs and bank accounts. I had no idea that I would ever creep above 125 lbs (GASP!!) or get wrinkles (GASP GASP!!!!) and going on vacation was a quick day trip to the beach. Although I worked two jobs to make ends meet, I was on my own and living was free of worry and other grown up issues.
As I have gotten older (not old, mind you, just older), the things that have become important to me are health, happiness and great memories.
Health is priority because as you get older you lose people who where very important in your life and you understand how short our time is here (not 14 and ancient, but short nonetheless). It seems that when you think of all the people who have passed away at a young age, you know that youth does not equal invincibility (although Wonder Woman sure made it seem like that! I guess invincibility only comes to those with golden lassos and invisible planes. I didn't get that memo though.)
Happiness is a priority because who wants to be burdened with misery. Happiness to me means looking at things from another perspective. Do I think every day is a bed of roses? No. I'm not delusional, but there are things that you can do to change perspective. I have learned that a bad day is just a day. One day out of 365 and one day does dictate my week, month or year. A bad week is just a week... one of 52 in a year. Heck, even a bad year is just one year out of a lifetime. Your outlook determines your happiness and success. Even though situation crop up that can't be helped, they don't define us, we define them.
Memories are a priority for me because at the end of the day, you don't sit down and say, "Gee, I am really glad I worked through my lunch", but you will say, "the look on your face the first time you saw the Eiffel Tower was priceless!" or "I cannot believe I zip-lined over a rain forest in Costa Rica!". Think about it :)
So, in summation, live each day as if it where your last. Leave footprints other would love to walk in and touch lives and hearts like I hope others have touched yours.
I love your writing style!
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