More About Aging

Ask the couple in the picture and for that moment they will agree

that there is such a thing as the Golden Years you see!

Are they all Golden? No way I say!

When do they start and do they stay?

Most people will probably think 60s

while others will think 70s

as I have heard that the 60s are the new 40s

They weren't for me as I got cancer in my late 50s

My husband was retiring and he had a wife to care for.

I will never be back to what I was like at 54.

We weren't seeing the golden years and wanted to scream.

He does now believe he is living his dream!

Would he say it is the golden years?

He may say, "No, it is not!" and then drop some tears.

He has lost his motorcycle-riding buddy most of the time

She is not walking, riding, or camping with him. Enough of this rhyme.

~

It is getting too sad for me and I want to focus for a bit on how it can be the golden years for me and the hubby. We laugh and love and spend family time together. We go to meetings together and share our recovery experience. Cooking and eating meals together, and an occasional movie.

We remember what the parents said, "Everyday is Saturday and every night is Friday night!". When anything went wrong physically or there was pain, we would hear, "You know what that is? It is A G E!" Then there was "Growing old is not for weaklings!" "Life is what you make of it!"

We are living in the 'Golden Years'.

Was it someone young who brought me to tears?

Yes, it was an advertising company trying to sell a retirement village.

The idea is travel, and leisure time, all an old adage

for retirement village is all the old people together.

It was out of sight, out of mind. Get them in the same weather.

Having fun with their own kind.

A place where they could mind

their own business.

I always think, is this the reason for busyness?

Or how about forgetfulness?

We don't have to look at the truth.

It isn't the same for all, look at Ruth

she is in great shape for her age

and she is a beautiful sage.

Do we know all about Ruth?

Do we all know the truth?

No.

So...

~

I know things that I have heard in my recovery over time, Promises of recovery like...

1) Abe Lincoln said, "We are as happy as we make up our minds to be." Spoken by someone who knew depression. And had health issues.

2) Addiction demands we stay negative, so let's stay positive. Focus on gratitude.

3) We will know a new freedom and a new happiness.

4) We will not regret the past nor wish to close the door on it, and we will know peace.

5) We will lose fear of people and economic insecurity will leave us.

These things and more have been helpful for me in my 'Golden Years'. They have made the difference many days of whether I climb out of bed or not. They help me to do good self-care and to give love to friends and family.

I know enough about my culture's teachings that I am not afraid of death. I will be okay and I will see family and friends again. Since I will be 70 in January, and I have just this year understood grumpy older people as there is pain that goes along with aging, in these 'Golden Years'.

You may be grumpy too in your old age!

The Golden Years really are Golden and they are not always, even though some think so. In the same way youth is not always full of joy.

Joy in growing up is a deep delight in what holds the most significance in our lives1. It is more than happiness, just as happiness is more than pleasure. Pleasure is in the body. Happiness is in the mind and feelings. Joy is deep in the heart, the spirit, the center of the self2. Having an appreciation of the joys and simple pleasures in life — things we readily delighted in as children, but sometimes take for granted as adults — is viewed by many as equally as important as managing responsibility and obligations of adulthood3. Bing