Got a resume today for a job opening we have where I work. Other than the usual credentials, work history, etc. what struck me was at the bottom were the words “youthful but very mature”. Just the opposite of what I strive to be. Mine would read Mature, but very youthful. I don’t want to “act my age”.
I want to maintain a zest for life, a childlike approach to new adventures. I don’t want to be bogged down in the day to day burdens of life to the point that life becomes drudgery. I want to find something to laugh about everyday. I want to marvel at the world, learn something new everyday.
My body may restrict me in some things. I can’t ride the tilt a whirl without feeling sick at my stomach. Something about equilibrium shifting when you get older. I can’t go to the carnival and eat snow cones and cotton candy and corn dogs without running my blood sugar into the ozone because of my diabetes. I can’t stay up all night like I could as a teenager and then function the next day. I get tired a lot quicker and move a lot slower but I’m still moving.
I think that is why I love Juliet so much. She has this childlike exuberance about life. You can’t help but feel it too when you are around her. I love to go to Kingfisher and hang out with my niece and nephew who are 9 and 10. With them I can be as silly as I want to be. I don’t have to act my age. Just the opposite. I can be on their level and have an absolute blast and no one thinks a thing of it, whether it be playing a video game or playing a game of Mystery Date. (my favorite childhood game) or making up puppet shows.
I can’t wait for grandkids. I will be one of those grandmothers that is really involved with the grandkids. I’ll be on the floor with them playing. I’ll be reading them storybooks in animated voices. I’ll be making up silly songs to make them laugh. I will see the world as they see it and marvel in the simplest of things.
At our reunion meeting yesterday one of the guys said, I wish you guys would quit talking about how old we are, how many years have passed. You are only as old as you feel and I feel young. I know a lady at Church who is in her 90’s who still acts ½ her age. She is involved in all kinds of things. She was in a weight loss class I taught about 12 years ago. At the time she was in her late 70’s and she was determined to lose weight and get healthy. I so admired that. When I’m 70 I think I will eat whatever I want and not care if my clothes don’t fit. Her attitude was so refreshing!
On the contrary, I have a young friend who is not even 30 but acts as if her life is over because things haven’t gone as planned. Instead of realizing she has a lot of years ahead of her to change her circumstances and go for what she wants, she has given up.
I went back to college when I was 42. I wanted to go back to satisfy a personal desire to finish and get a degree. I had dropped out 22 years earlier to get married. My intention was to go back and finish but it got put off and put off as I raised my family. Going back was tough. I had all the adult responsibilities on top of classes. I worked 8-5, had two teenagers at home, bills to pay….a million reasons not to go back. What I found was that being around those 18-20 year old college students re-energized me. And when I graduated at age 45, I had the same spring in my step as the 22 year olds in front and behind me crossing that stage.
I have a friend who at age 59 is taking piano lessons. Another who at 68 just bought a Harley. These women are my role models. I want to be hang gliding at 75 if the mood strikes me. I want to ride a whole lot more roller coasters before I die. I have so much to do, so many things I want to see, I don’t have time to feel or act old.
Bring on the silly string!
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