The great privilege of getting older
Most people complain about getting older.
I, on the other hand, am so pleased to finally be as old as I have always felt inside.
I equate age with wisdom--the fires of youth are banked and no longer flare up with passionate emotion; the mind can express itself more freely as it is not so encumbered with the fear of what others think.
I always loved old people the best: my two grandmas, Moss and Doyel; Mr. Jewell, who ran the rock and mineral shop in Horse Cave; Mrs. Weixelbraun, our German-speaking landlady in Louisville.
I consider it a great privilege to get old, as I can benefit from my many mistakes, unfounded anxieties about bad things that never happened, misunderstandings of how to assess character in others, and survival of experiences that seemed life-threatening but did not kill me.
I also consider it a privilege that I can so easily share my hard-won wisdom with others by teaching and writing. Of all the jobs I've held and skills I've developed, I still love teaching and writing the best--communicating is so exciting. Tiring, too, but worth the effort.
It's grand to get older.
I, on the other hand, am so pleased to finally be as old as I have always felt inside.
I equate age with wisdom--the fires of youth are banked and no longer flare up with passionate emotion; the mind can express itself more freely as it is not so encumbered with the fear of what others think.
I always loved old people the best: my two grandmas, Moss and Doyel; Mr. Jewell, who ran the rock and mineral shop in Horse Cave; Mrs. Weixelbraun, our German-speaking landlady in Louisville.
I consider it a great privilege to get old, as I can benefit from my many mistakes, unfounded anxieties about bad things that never happened, misunderstandings of how to assess character in others, and survival of experiences that seemed life-threatening but did not kill me.
I also consider it a privilege that I can so easily share my hard-won wisdom with others by teaching and writing. Of all the jobs I've held and skills I've developed, I still love teaching and writing the best--communicating is so exciting. Tiring, too, but worth the effort.
It's grand to get older.
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