Aging

Aging is a strange phenomenon in our society.......often I hear the words, you don't look your age, or you look great for your age..... "you look great" would be a nice compliment. For some reason I watched two movies about aging today......The First Wives Club and Lost Vegas.  Both were comedies with
undertones of poignancy.......Aging is scary.  It is not for the faint of heart.....watching your body change, knowing that time is flying by, finally understanding you probably have lived the greater part of your life already........this is coming to grips with  life and yourself.

Everyone faces the passing of time differently.....some react out of shock and fear, completely uprooting their lives......leaving families behind, forming relationships with younger partners, trying to relive a part of their life they have lost. Some grow old before they are old......maybe they figure if they embrace it, it will be easier.  There are no guide books, nor a compass for the passing of years......it becomes a fly by the seat of your pants journey.

Friends die, you don't recognize the face in your mirror ( or maybe you do, it's your mom or dad staring back at you) and things that once came easy are difficult........touching your toes for instance.
Some go to the gym and exercise relentlessly, some seek a plastic surgeon, or buy a sports car.......and when health issues  whack you in the face........life tumbles like a bad dice throw.

We all go into these waters, this uncharted  territory  without a map......we make out way daily hoping for some sort of sign that we chose the right path.......you might have planned for the financial part of retirement, but what about your free time?  Or maybe you think you will just work forever.
What if your spouse retires and you continue to work, that is a whole different can of worms.
I thought that aging would bring all the answers, that suddenly every thing would be crystal clear......instead, I have more questions than ever.  Wow, who knew?  I really did have all the answers in my twenties and thirties and forties.......then the rules changed, and no one knows what they are....and the answers I seek......it seems no one knows those either.  Living in the moment is  my survival technique........so far it's working.