/Aa/ is for Accept

It’s true! I have a problem accepting my age and there are a couple of reasons for this.

Firstly, if I think about my age, I wonder how the heck I got here! Where have the years gone? It only seems like yesterday that I was in my twenties. Then I remind myself that I have a son who is 40. Yikes, so that’s how I got here!

I don’t let my age stop me trying new things but I have been doing some self-questioning of late. I am finally pursuing a long held dream of mine which is to become a published author of children’s picture books, but I do wonder if I’m just kidding myself – how could this ever happen at my age? It can take literally years and years to learn this craft and I don’t have time on my side like I would have had if I had started twenty years ago. But should I be reminding myself that’s it’s about the journey and not the destination? When I mentioned my concern to a dear mentor she replied, ‘Well, you’re here now.’ I couldn’t argue with that. To all the young people in my writing groups who constantly feel that they are time poor, I say stick with it! I only wish that I’d taken up this wonderful, fulfilling, creative pursuit a long time ago.

Secondly, I don’t want society to define me by my age (I seem to be doing a pretty good job of that myself some days). Society labels me as a ‘senior’, a ‘grandmother’, perhaps even ‘elderly’! Am I really those things? My head doesn’t think so. Yes, I am a grandmother but I’m an active, involved, thinking grandmother. I go to playgroup and Jump ‘n’ Jive. I climb up play equipment and slide down slides. I wrestle with a pusher, a baby on the hip and a 3 year old.

So what is this thing called ageing? I can’t figure it out and maybe it’s not even worth trying. One thing for sure, I am grateful for being here. Life is a privilege. There’s so much I still want to do and experience so I think I’m going to view my age as a number – nothing more!

So, do you have any thoughts about ageing? How do you view this inevitable process?

Next time /Tt/