In the Middle

At forty-five years of age. I am middle aged. That means in the middle of one's life. I am in the middle of generations in my family. One parent is still living and I am raising children. I am in the middle of the population curve. When I am out in public I see a number of adults who are younger than me and a number who are older. About half are younger and half older. My body is telling me that I am not quite as fast as I used to be, do not heal as quickly and loose my muscle tone faster if I stop exercising. But my body continues to perform at a pretty good level without me having to give up any activities I enjoy. I am tired more frequently but still have plenty of energy as long as I get plenty of sleep. Given my genetics and excellent health -I will most likely make it to at least one hundred in pretty good shape- my life is almost half over. My face and body are showing some effects of gravity (as in slight drooping in the face, bust and butt) and overexposure to the sun in the way of some wrinkles and age spots (we used to lie in the sun for hours on end slathered in baby oil for god's sake!) but I still look fairly attractive, even to younger men.

It is an interesting place to be in one's life. There are the lessons from past experience, a little wisdom. There is more to come coupled with hopes of acheiving some of those life-long dreams like traveling the world, writing a book, really making a difference in someone's life, joining the peace corp or learning the tango.

Sometimes being middle aged puts me in a panic like when I think about things I want to do and don't have the money or time for right now. The negative little monster that lives in my psyche might say "You had better figure out a way to start your traveling soon because after you are eighty you won't get as much out of it". Or "you will look like a fool at seventy trying to learn to tango". Then other times I think about all the time I have left especially after my children are grown to do whatever I want as long as I can figure out how to have food and shelter. I think that if I have evolved this far in forty-five years how cool I am going to be at 95!

The hardest thing to come to terms with- and I think this is the key to really aging well- is that it is wasteful to spend too much time trying to preserve oneself. We must embrace and enjoy the aging process because it is inevitable. That does not mean give up the gym, the sun screen and the healthful diet. It means to be grateful to the Universe for getting you this far and grateful to the Universe for the lessons and growth to come. Get excited about it because it is coming anyway so you might as well have a good time with it.

What are some things to look forward to in aging? Please blog your answers.