Why Growing Old Is A Gift

     I keep hearing people in their 70's, 60's, and even 50's complain about getting old. I hear it ALL the time. Yeah, sometimes it's supposed to be humorous. But a lot more often, people have complained about their age in a more serious tone. This really pisses me off. My mom died at 36. Two people from my church died in late 20's and another late teens. A kid I knew from elementary school died at 20. A young mother died at 25. A groom-to-be died in his late 30's. Most of these people didn't get to accomplish all they wanted. They didn't get to graduate or even attend college. Or they didn't get the chance to get married or even see their children grow. They didn't get the chance to accumulate wisdom and write an auto-biography about all the things they've seen and learned and experienced in their life. 

     To grow old, or more delicately put, to age, is a gift. To get the opportunity of time is a gift. Yes, it is true, not all people have tons of advantages. No life is perfect. We all have disadvantages....whether they be physical or emotional. But to have the opportunity of time...the time to sort out your problems and learn and heal from them....that is a gift. The opportunity to grow from your past, rather than blame your misfortune on it...that is a gift. The opportunity to make a second life, even in your 40's or 50's...that is a gift. 

     People at 40 say they are old. That isn't true. They are only half way through their life, or less. People in other countries, such as Zimbabwe, where the average life span doesn't even reach the 40's....THEY have a real disadvantage. They don't have the gift of knowing what it's like to retire. Some people get bored or depressed and don't know what to do once they retire. They suddenly have all this free time. Well, this time is a gift. Travel, teach, write, explore, invent, congratulate, and love. Do those things with your time.

            

      I would LOVE to even make it to my 60's or 70's. If I grow to be older, I will be thankful. I may not have my health or my youth, but I will have had my time. Time is something you can never get back and complaining of having too much of it, is foolish. Youth is something that can be a state of mind, if you let it. Or you can sit and complain about your wrinkles and walker. Nobody is perfect, and yes, I'm sure I will complain about my age, because complaining is just what I do. But if I get the opportunity of time to learn, to travel, to marry, to be a mother, to write, and to age...I will be thankful. 


Old age isn't so bad when you consider the alternative. 
- Maurice Chevalier