Getting "Old"

I keep waiting to feel old but I think I've under-estimated what "old" feels like.

I have yet to have an urge to cut my hair off short, perm it and color it blue.  I have a few grays but nothing to get bent out of shape over.  Oddly enough, most of my hair is darker than it's ever been - a nuisance when trying to maintain "natural blonde." 

I have a few aches and pains but if I'm honest with myself, I've had a few aches and pains my entire life, starting with gymnastics at age 6.  My worst pain is in my neck and it was from falling on it too many times as a very young child.  Other than that, my hips sometimes hurt if I run really far distances.  I also get shin splints and stress fractures in my feet.  But really, I can run a couple miles every single day and be fine.  It's those really long distance runs that hurt.  And if I remember correctly, I hurt every day of my high school tenure due to running too much.  Pain from running, in my opinion, is not limited to 40+ year olds.  It's just par for the course.  So as a result, I keep my running to a mile or two a day and I am fine as frog's hair.

My vision is shitty.  It used to just be distance.  My distance vision is now something like 20/300.  I have to wear glasses or contacts to drive.  The issue I'm having now is that, when I wear contacts, my vision is OVER-corrected and I can't see close up.  This poses a problem when, for instance, I want to wear contacts AND read a dinner menu.  My solution is to wear only one contact and to read close up with the uncorrected eye, and see far with the corrected eye.  I refuse to wear reading glasses.  At least not yet.

I'm noticing more and more "hyperpigmentation" spots on my skin.  Or for a much uglier word, "AGE SPOTS."  Yes, that's right.  I have age spots.  And despite what those expensive spas tell you, there really is nothing that makes them go away.  As soon as you have spent $3,000 getting a spot lasered, another freckle party sprouts up and then what?  I'm noticing them all over my body and not in places where the sun hits.  So all that lecturing about staying out of the sun is just a bunch of hooey.  Fact is, if you were a kid with really cute freckles on your face, you will grow up to be an old person with age spots.  Which are just freckles who found each other.

I'm still not fat.  And I never will be.  I have found the cure for fatness and it is called NOT over-eating, and also staying physically active.  Very simple, even in later years. 

What I can tell you about getting older is that, if you are the type of person who learns from your mistakes, who takes personal accountability for your actions, and who has sought out knowledge and understanding, then getting old equals getting WISE.   Not everyone gets wise with age.  But I'm working on it.

Right now, at age 44, I am truly more happy than I have ever been.  I have experienced many hardships (of my own doing), many trials, hurdles, obstacles and set-backs.  And I have never given up or given in.  I am not only a survivor but a thriver.

I look forward to what life has in store for the rest of my life.  BRING IT.