Yesterday was the birthday of my oldest friend. She’s one month younger than me and didn’t seem too happy about the number allocated to her current existence. She reminded me about how old our teachers seemed at school, especially Miss G who used to throw the hard wooden blackboard rubber at us when we got our algebra wrong. Those were the days!
‘Now we’re her age. Actually older!’
Yesterday was also the day my passport expired and it got me thinking…
Every time I’ve had my photo taken for a passport I’ve cringed. Did I really look like that? This last passport picture was no exception. I hated it when it was done, and yet I look at it now and wonder why I was so concerned. I’m no oil painting and never have been, but as far as aging is concerned, in the words of Bachman-Turner:
‘You ain’t seen nothing yet.’
Our attitude to weight can be the same. I used to think I was fat when my waist was 23 inches. That was a long, long time ago. Why didn’t I enjoy the weight I was at the time? Why are we always hankering for something else when we have so much already?
‘Youth is wasted on the Young.’
I never used to like that phrase. I was enjoying my youth to the full and I didn’t want the older generation implying I didn’t deserve it. But I understand it more now.
Every stage we’re at in life, we need to drink in the wonder of what we have at the time. The chances are, it’s not going to get much better. It’s rare for a young person to totally appreciate that, as it’s something that slowly dawns on us with the passage of years. Or at least it should!
So going back to birthdays. I think it was Helen Mirren who was asked how it felt to reach the age of 60. Her answer, in her usual pithy style:
‘Wonderful! If I wasn’t sixty, I would be dead.’
Carpe Diem
