Just Another Trip Around the Sun….

   Those of you who follow my posts may have noticed that I have become somewhat focused on age and growing older. Another trip around the sun means another birthday and the number of trips is beginning to climb a bit.

   I recently had a discussion with someone who asked me my age. I bobbed and weaved for a minute or two but then responded. To my response he said “That’s really great. “You know…. Growing older is a privilege.”

   His response caused me to stop and think for a minute. I guess I had not viewed growing older as a privilege. Sometimes it feels like growing older becomes more of a burden, a burden on yourself, your family and maybe your friends. But as we continued our discussion, I found myself thinking about the many life experiences I had been able to have, the lessons I may or may not have learned and what the passing of time has taught me.

   As I will often do, after my discussion I quickly turned to my computer to do a search for famous quotes on getting older. It was not a surprise as to the number of quotes by famous and not so famous people.

   The one that caught my attention was one by Ingrid Bergman. “Getting older is like climbing a mountain: you get a little out of breath, but the view is much better.” At first glance the quote appears pretty simple and straight forward. Climbing a mountain can get you a little out of breath, something I experienced just a few days ago while walking a hiking trail Downeast. But a brief rest, a few sips of water and the view was wonderful. Clear blue sky, a picturesque view of the ocean and the sounds of the waves helped put things into perspective.

   But to finish Ingrid’s quote…” Getting older is more than just climbing a mountain. It is about the ‘perspective’ you gain about life.”

   For many, life contains a number of hills and valleys and as each day goes by we often become more skilled and able to handle new experiences that confront us. Some of these experiences may be expected or planned. Other may be a surprise. But looking back on how we managed each and what we learned helps us to understand just how important ‘perspective’ may be.

   My parents lived into their early 90s. Not everyone is as fortunate to experience that amount of a lifetime and while the average length of life for society in general has increased over the recent decades, there has, is recent years been somewhat of a minor decline. At least that is what some of the experts are claiming.

   It was interesting to hear some of the discussions my parents would have about life and how in their eyes it had changed. As children of the 1920s their view of the world over time and their perspective about life was very different than many people today. Life’s experiences had changed their views and beliefs about many things and I suspect the same thing is happening to me.

   Like climbing the mountain, the perspective one has about life, about personal values and beliefs changes with as we grow older. But it is not just being old that changes our perspective but the experiences throughout our life that we faced and endured and what we learned from them that make us who we are each day. Learning never stops, unless we allow it to stop and the more we learn the smarter we become. We have a better perspective on those parts of our life that are important, that make us happy, that bring smiles to our faces and things that we can share with others.

   As I begin the next trip around the sun I know that I will not be able to bend over and kneel down in the garden to weed as often as I did in the past and I may have to get someone to help mow the lawn. But I will be remembering the discussion I had and the comment…” Growing older is a privilege”.