Feeling Old

I’m feeling a bit old today. I say this as I’m listening to Frank Sinatra and truly enjoying it. I just came back from my first mountain bike ride of the season and not only did I perform less than stellar, but I rode like a chicken on the down hills. I refused to jump logs that I would have no problem jumping . . . oh say . . . last year. I did manage to crash and fall into a muddy ditch so maybe I do have a bit of youth still left in me.

But there are more reasons than physical ones that I’m feeling old today. I’m thinking back to a lovely email that my friend Jill sent to me this morning. It was all about aging, but not about the silly physical things that go wrong with age. It was about the positive points regarding aging. Yes, there are such things! Here’s a little clip from the email:

“As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong. 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 guess this email has made me realize that I am indeed old. I have come to the point in my life where I realize what things are important and what things aren’t worth a second thought. Today it was particularly easy to see this crystallize. I’m still stunned at how my meaningless off-hand blog remarks can cause such uproar. I always fill this blog with my opinions, some serious, some silly, but the important thing is that they are just my opinions. Everybody has opinions and everybody likes and dislikes different things. Why should one person’s personal tastes toward anything effect or upset anybody else?

Imagine if I said that I don’t like American cars . . . (Not like I ever said that before.) Is that grounds for everybody that drives an American car, or works for an American car company, to get offended? Does that mean that I think I’m too good to drive one, or I’m an anti-patriotic terrorist? Or does it just mean that my personal preference is for other brands? Doesn’t everybody have personal preferences that may or may not coincide with their best friends?

And the real kicker is the thought that people could be upset about my opinion. I mean I’m just some obscure person out in the boonies. Who should care what I think or say? I just can’t imagine giving a second thought to any random person and their opinions. My friends are all entitled to their personal preferences, whether they match mine or not. In fact, when they don’t match mine there is usually a good laugh involved. But I can’t see how anybody’s personal preference for anything could actually upset me. If I don’t agree with an opinion so be it.

I really do think that life is way too short to get bogged down in petty nonsense. There is so much more to life than that. Why waste time dwelling on any negative things that you can grasp at? The world is full of so much beauty and joy if you go looking for it. I’m definitely at the point in my life where I have settled into life and really know how to live it in a positive way. It is sinful to waste precious time being upset for no reason.

And one last thought regarding aging . . . I know this theory about aging is really true and I can see this in my relationships with all the people in my life older than myself. I just realized at this moment how much I enjoy talking and spending time with these people. Seems all my contact with these older and wiser people have left me a better person and taught me important life lessons. I don’t dread aging. I know that life just keeps on getting better.