Robert Browning, renowned English poet, wrote this line in his poem,  ” Rabbi Ben Ezra ”  a couple of centuries ago :  ” Grow old along with me.  The best is yet to be “.

Sounds optimistic, but the truth is this :  old, in Browning’s day, was about fifty  !!!!    Old in today’s world is upward to eighties and nineties……

My reflections on growing old are personal and have little or no research to back them up.  It’s simply what I am living.

—–Memories :  the ability to look back, love deeply , think profoundly , re-live seasons of life,  regret too much,  and know that life is comparable to a patchwork of times gone by ,  much like an old quilt.

—–Legacy :  service to the community in days gone by ; reaching out in love to those less fortunate ;  hopefully , giving more than receiving ; and , always, grateful for children, grandchildren, and great- grandchildren, the  ones who reassure us of a time of  resurrection.

—–Wisdom :  that which only years of decision, indecision, exposure, right steps , wrong steps, regrets, goals made , goals met,  listening, education,  and on and on, can give us .  Only time and distance can create wisdom.

—–Acceptance :  what was , was  ;  what is , is .  There is no going back and little going forward.  Spending inordinate amounts of time on  ” what ifs ”  creates  angst——-and changes nothing.

—–Gratitude :  speaks for itself, hopefully !

I feel that too often thoughts on aging focus on failing memories,  death , aches and pains ,  the loss of loved ones, regrets , mortality , and what might have been.  And I identify with those, too.

But life is a journey with all that that implies.

The road is sometimes bumpy and sometimes smooth.  The weather is sometimes fair and sometimes stormy.  The highs are often too short and the lows too long.

But it is what it is.  And I thank God that I have lived long enough to look in the mirror and sometimes see what was———and not what is.

 

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