Let Me Age Gracefully

Over the last couple of days I wrote about keeping our inner child young, both physically and mentally. Its important to keep our young spirit alive and active, to stave off old age and to impeded its progress as much as possible. While we never know if we will make it to old age, tomorrow being forever uncertain, many of us will. How will we make it there is partially up to us. We can make it there in a wheelchair or with a cane, or we can stride untethered and standing as tall as possible. Surprises come for all of us; unintended injuries that don’t heal, illnesses that creep in and debilitate us in some way. We may be able to escape them, we may not. But what we are in control of is how we enter old age mentally, how we treat others as we get older, and how we learn to let go. Our lives and bodies are perpetually in flux, changing from day to day and year to year. It takes a certain amount of humility to be able to recognize how we have changed and how we relate to that world within our change. We grow wiser (hopefully) and older, and others take our place that we once thought we would have in perpetuity. Our days have always been numbered, and to accept that fact, and be open to that as we age is a gift.

Not only as a contractor, but also just as an observant person, I have seen many people struggle with getting older. I have never heard one person say that getting older in the physical sense is easy. If we don’t take care of ourselves when we are younger, it makes it even more difficult as we age. The injuries of our youth compound themselves in our bodies as the years tack on. Even mentally (I’m not just talking about dementia or Alzheimer’s here), I have seen many people struggle with age and what it does to their minds and their attitudes. Many of us will keep our mental wits about us as we age, but the few that remain open to new thoughts, I have found, are the ones who are able to age gracefully. Its not just being open to new thoughts, its also recognizing their limitations and knowing when to say enough is enough. There is a certain point in time, I have found through my observations, mostly in a person’s late 70s to early 80s, where they have the option of either relinquishing control, stepping back, and letting the younger take the reigns, or fighting to remain in control, keep what the have, and push on despite the impact it will have on others. In some ways, its sadder to see someone fight against the inevitable than to see someone gracefully step back.

I hope that as I grow older, I find the wisdom and the grace to step back gracefully, to age with grace, and let others fill the shoes I once did. It doesn’t in any way mean I want to stop learning, but rather, I want to keep learning so I know even more and can let go more easily. I have seen and heard of too many examples where individuals seek to remain in control past the point when they should. I want to be like the ones who can sit back and be content with telling stories and discussing what life was like way back when. I want to be able to recognize when I need to step back, to know when my time has come, and not be too stubborn that I keep others from flourishing through my inability to concede and my lack of grace. I will keep listening and talking, reading and writing, aging day by day and seeking to stay as young as possible for as long as possible. Yet when my day comes, I will hopefully sit back and relax, knowing that others will carry forward and I will not be in the way of their success.