. . . but in my case it's still a really big one!
Actress Bette Davis first said, "Getting old is not for sissies," which has been repeated many times, by many commentators, in many circumstances. And, now you're gonna hear it from me. Getting old is definitely NOT for sissies. I should know. It's kicking my butt this week!
It's not that I wish I was young, because I don't want to relive those awkward, mistake-filled, crazy days of yore. Wisdom and experience are wonderful gifts. However, it is true that youth is wasted on the young (thank you George Bernard Shaw for that nugget!). If I knew then what I know now . . . Unfortunately my time machine is missing a few parts and I can't whiz back to 1983 and buy that Microsoft stock. And, it's wasted effort pining over what might have been. You can't change the past.
Experience is a wonderful teacher, and, unless we're insane, it keeps us from making the same mistakes over and over. However, it sure would be nice if some of my newfound limits related to aging weren't part of my personal equation.
Am I back in midlife crisis mode? Not really. What's got me down this week is my hernia. Yuck! That sounds like an old man's malady. Can you even say the word "truss" without seeing visions of hobbling old gentlemen? In my case, I didn't actually tear anything or experience pain. My hernia came on after I started swimming seriously this fall. After one particularly grueling workout, while in the shower, I looked down and said to myself, "that doesn't look right." My physician confirmed it wasn't right and scheduled me to go under the knife for a little repair work. Six weeks of no exercise, too. Other than having my wisdom teeth removed at age 17, I've never been under the knife before.
Is this the dreaded slippery slope? Have I now, on the cusp of 50 years old, become the old man who talks incessantly about his ailments, puts pills in a daily pill counter, wears sansabell shorts, and scans the paper for earlybird dinner specials? Say it ain't so!
Hear's another good quote--if it's true that youth is wasted on the young, perhaps medication is wasted on the old. That's funny. It made me laugh.
Truth is that time marches on. There is no fountain of youth. We must make the best of our days whether we are young or old or somewhere in between. We all have limits--it's just some of us are more aware of those limits than others.
Sure with hard work, a good attitude, God's grace and a little luck, we can accomplish great things at any age. It's just that on some days, it's more difficult to shine with sunny optimism . . . especially when you have a surgeon waiting to slice you open in a few days.
He said I'll be back, though, better than ever. That is, of course, assuming there are no complications. Now that's the spirit! Ha ha.
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