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I'm turning 75 this week. As I contemplate my (young) old age, it occurs to me that there are things that I am appreciating more and more as the years pass. For example:
Quiet
Careful, defensive drivers who use their turn signals
The love of a grandchild
Rainy days (I live in Florida and I get tired of so much sunshine)
Ice cream (I mean, I always liked it, but ...)
Sleep
For me I think it's a combination of getting older, working from home full time, things having slowed down with COVID, and not being as rushed. I do walking every morning now -- only miss a day if it's below -2 or above 102. And I'm really appreciating nature more:
It's joy in simple things and simple pleasures.
-- The trees and how they change
-- Right now how beautiful the spring is and how amazingly green everything is
-- birds and squirrels (and how clever and persistent squirrels are)
-- the clouds, the rain, the storms
-- the connection just being in the world that you have to people you don't even know. (One woman one day told me she watches me from her window walking my dog every morning and was so devastated to see me walking without my dog - thought he had passed (He wasn't able to do walks for about three weeks.) She came out to talk to me, asked me if my dog had passed, and was overjoyed that my dog hadn't passed away and would be walking with me again soon.)
-- simple pleasures
-- a lunch with my son or an outing at a park or an outing at the zoo with him. His wonderful smile.
-- being with DH for a weekly Saturday night date night / dinner out
-- great theatre (just how inspiring it is)
-- regular talking on the phone with my 85 year old dad who can't do as much as he used to do now with
more limited mobility but who is truly a joy to talk to and an inspiration for me as I get older.
It just seem like for so many years I was just running around so fast that I didn't very often take in how absolutely wonderful these simple things are.
1) ...peace (of mind) and non-stressful living (as much as possible.)
I have less and less patience for aggravations and unnecessary drama (whatever they may be at the time.) That's not to say I'm not trying to be more tolerant of some things. Just depends on what we're talking about or the issue at hand.
2) ....my time being my own. And not really having to do anything I really don't want to do (other than go to work.) Single, no kids. So no one puts any impositions on my time....but me.
3) ....the little things that make me happy.... simple great times spent with family and friends, good food, good laughs, good conversation and memories.
4) ....good health!!!!!
5) ....my fairly idllic childhood/upbringing. When I hear about the childhoods some of my friends had, I cringe. Abusive, non supportive parents, strained sibling relationships...it's sad. I had a great childhood and family life.
The number/amount of dysfunctional relationships is astonishing. To me anyway.
6) ....how little I can have and still be happy (or should I say "satisfied"?)
BUT, I think that's because at my age I have also been-there-done-that and achieved a lot of what I wanted to. I have traveled a fair amount. I have had homes and other possessions that others admired. Now I really don't care about those things. But, again that might be easy for me to say, having had them.
AS I have said many,many times,I retired on a meager Bell Pension at 55 in 1988 with medical paid benefit,company buy out.
I do not regret it,I said I would not trade life for money which has worked out fine.
I appreciate:
1) the fact that sometimes, I don't even know what day it is and it doesn't matter
2) how good a cold beer is at lunch time
3) the company of a good dog
4) using up all my bait
5) young/little kids who enjoy the outside as much as me
6) meeting old friends unexpectedly
7) my 4 adult children, who all have good jobs
8) driving my 20 year old truck
9) my land
and last but not least and the most important one for me ...
At 76 I'm happy to be here and in relatively good health. I've come to really appreciate those who can put aside their political biases long enough to find some contentment in just breathing. I'm appreciative of my wife, my daughter, my siblings and friends who are supportive of me and each other. I've come to love the early mornings that begin with a beautiful sunrise and a cup of hot coffee to help start the day, and, more surprising, I've begun to understand the value in just nodding my head when I'm engaged in conversation with those who seem a bit off the rails.
Becoming happily irrelevant in one's old age seems to be an essential factor in accepting the eventual displacement of us. We all have those days when the world seems to have more weight to it, and in that realization we seek to lighten the burden by seeking all manner of distraction. My younger years were never the stuff of a contented life, but fourteen years of retirement have lessened my worries and mellowed me, for that I'll be eternally grateful.
As one ages, three things happen - first memory loss, damn, now I can’t remember the other two.
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