Let me whine for a minute about the not-really-joys of growing older
I remember when I was a kid, like most kids I suppose, I really didn't understand adults. My parents weren't really "adults," in my mind -- they were my parents. Separate category of living creatures, I suppose. (I know MY kids certainly wondered sometimes if their dad wasn't perhaps an alien from an unknown part of the Universe.)
What I never got about adults more than anything else was this: Why did so few adults I knew seem to have very little fun in life? I remember thinking, "Hey, grown ups have the money, they have the power to make choices I can't make for myself -- what's with 'em that they seem so sad, or so angry, or just not all that much fun??"
Nevertheless, I was willing to risk sadness, grimness, whatever, just so I could hurry and grow up -- at least grow up enough to be allowed to do what I wanted in life, to make my own decisions.
Never saw "aging" in all that, just growing up. But what I've learned in a hurry is this: Life means aging, and it really all happens way to fast.
Personally, as I grow older, I find things aren't as joyful as they may have been a few years ago, because of aging. Just about the time you feel happy about getting rid of the zits when you find your best acne treatment -- WHAM! You body is already plunging straight into arthritis, bursitis, and a dozen other annoying "itises."
It's not just the body betraying me as it ages, however. It is, to some extent, the mind, or at least my attitudes and outlook on life. The older I get, the less pleasure I find in the little things like good food and drink, reading a good book. I become more impatient with pretty much everything, especially the ignorance and stupidity of most drivers I'm forced to share the road with.
Maybe all this is just uniquely my cross(es) to bear. Perhaps you have no problems with aging, no signs of body sabotage, mental grumpiness, and other not-really-joys of growing older? Good for you. As for me, I gotta work at it. And I really WILL take time for living today.
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