Aging and The Looking Glass

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You can fight it or you can embrace it, but we’re all getting older.  I haven’t thought of aging much until recently.  The most humbling thing I’ve ever done was purchase a 10X magnification mirror this summer.  Since I haven’t been able to see myself well for at least ten years, it seemed like a prudent thing to do.  Wow, talk about an eye opener (pun intended)!  There are road maps where my skin used to be!

My knees have been creaking for awhile, and typical farm wrecks take a lot longer to recover from.  Neither my husband nor I can hear well, and there are at least five different strengths of readers on my desk right now.  I keep pondering whether I should continue dyeing my hair to retain its natural color.  And while I used to ignore sagging and shifting, it's getting a bit harder to do that.

There are days that all this gets me down, but I’m luckier than most;  I have no tragic health issues, a younger husband (but not too young), a little bit of hard-won wisdom, and the energy to do 80% of what I’d like to do.  But we’re planning one more move, and a house on one level with few steps and maybe even wheelchair access has started to sound like a good option.  The move before this last one we had a three story home, and neither of us wanted to hike up the stairs if we didn’t have to.

I’ve gotten a prescription for multi-strength glasses, and we’ve decided not to tackle hearing aids for now.  Our relationship is much more interesting (and probably stronger) because we can’t understand each other at least half the time.  We've quit worrying about why we walked into the room in the first place, and we just see how much we can do while we're in there without bending down.

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Of course, plastic surgery and knee replacements are readily available.  And there are some memory enhancing supplements.  But I’m still considering how much to fight aging and how much to embrace it.  With my double nickel birthday running up the walk to meet me, I still have (hopefully) a little time left, but I have increased the font on my BUCKET LIST and now review it more often.  Time waits for no cowgirl, as they say.

What’s your take on aging?  Do you celebrate it?  Curse it? Or take the middle ground?  I’d love to hear your thoughts.  And thanks for reading!

Marianne M. Smith
Writer At The Ranch
Making You Look Brilliant One Word At A Time
http://writerattheranch.com
wordsmith@writerattheranch.com