Monday July 14, 2008, 3:18 am
Ah, but I must fall in line with the research.
As a young woman, so many things that were ultimately inconsequential loomed so large in my life.

There truly was a time when I felt I had to be the most attractive, the most talented, the most,,,everything! Now I'm happy to be me...most of the time, anyway.

And they're right about serenity...it falls as a gentle mantle on your shoulders as you mature.

Now, of course, we all still face challenges and heartache and problems as we age, but look how much wiser we gradually become in our ability to handle them.

BUT I STILL AIN'T GOING GENTLY INTO THAT GOODNIGHT!

Monday July 14, 2008, 3:46 am
thanks cate,its something that happens to us all so we just have to make the most of it and be happy cos we are wiser about life as we age ,and less stressful as when younger in life.a just get on with life to the best i can and as happy as i can ,

Monday July 14, 2008, 3:55 am
As we age we learn what is important, what is insignificant and the importance of a smile and kindness...which ripples back to us in our own happiness

Monday July 14, 2008, 4:31 am
Old and rich in a young body--now that might give me more happy than I could handle.

Monday July 14, 2008, 4:40 am
Yet another study, Smith said, looked at job satisfaction among people of different ages and again found that those who kept working past age 65 had the highest level of job satisfaction -- going against the stereotype that older people keep working mostly because they can't do without the money.

Just this past weekend, I heard of two blues
musicians who will be touring together this
summer. The names escape me, but both these
gentlemen are 90 yrs. old.
Les Paul, the inventor of the electric guitar
and multi-track recording (remember Les Paul
and Mary Ford, from the 50's?) is still touring
at the age of 92.
But, this is what's keeping these men alive, doing
what they love, and being extremely happy at it.

Speaking for myself, though I'm only half Les Paul's
age, I'm finding that this is true, the older I get,
the happier I get......but "happy" is not the right
word. I'm more settled, more at peace, and I have MADE
my peace with alot of things in my life and in my past
that I know can't be changed.
If getting older means being happier, then I say,
"bring it on!".
Thanks, Cate,
for a great post!
noted.

Monday July 14, 2008, 4:56 am
You are as old as you think. Old is Gold. Gold attracts women - That is the Problem

Monday July 14, 2008, 6:26 am
Had to laugh at this one. Older and wiser maybe yes.. But give me back my youth pleaseeeeeeeee hahaha
In my mind I haven't aged a day, just gotta keep telling my body that..
Hugs and thanks for a great thread.. Sue

Monday July 14, 2008, 6:28 am
My favourite pianist Mieczyslaw Horszowski lived to be 100 and continued to do recitals well into his late 90s. He also climbed mountains. He wasn't the only one of many classical musicians who lived to be very old and performed till the end. Artur Rubinstein, Vladimir Horowitz careers are just examples of spending a lifetime doing what you love to do and it extending your life.

noted, thank you, Cate......

Monday July 14, 2008, 6:44 am
Im turning into a cynical old git !

Monday July 14, 2008, 9:21 am
They say you are as old as the one you are feeling.
Is that why older men only seem to go for the young girls?

Monday July 14, 2008, 9:42 am
As fo me, this is true. My life is now much richer than before. I have more time for myself to enjoy. I've got a lot of friends who help me to go on living. I do now the things I couldn't do when my children were very young. Believe me, I feel really happy.

Monday July 14, 2008, 9:52 am
Noted. True that I am slower to anger, slower to speak words I would not want to eat, more empathetic and sympathetic, wiser and sage enough not to flaunt it, understand more which leads to not understanding much of what goes on in the world these days, content to be me and to constantly strive to make me a more authentic humann being. I do stop to savor life and am confident,even though slowing down, that 'I can still contribute a verse' to life.Still amazed at the day-to-day jokes my body plays on me, lol! Thanks, Cate!

Monday July 14, 2008, 10:40 am
I tend to agree with the article, it is like I have been there done that and NOW have nothing to prove. I find myself much more content and much happier with ME! thanks for sharing Cate, good article.

Monday July 14, 2008, 10:59 am
So noted Cated. I would like to think this is due to wisdom but lol I know I have a long way to go for that. If I could have a back-to-the-futurm moment, I would not want to change anything per se but I would like to tell my younger self not to worry so much, it's going to be better than ok. Of course I've got prozac and he doesn't.

Monday July 14, 2008, 11:17 am
I still would like to be back in my youth. Those were the days. I can do without this older stuff. LoL. Thanks Cate for another great article.

Monday July 14, 2008, 11:25 am
President John Mc Cain,

I would like to remind the United States of America, that America is a land hospitable to all Nations. If it were not for the All-American fore-runners: President Abraham Lincoln, President John F. Kennedy, President Ford, President Reagan, and Presidents - Bush, we would not be able to wonder if America and its' liberties were not what attracted Foreigners into immigrating into American Culture? Immigrants are loved by All of us, but they did come to America, without due to being attracted to the established White Man's Culture, and Social adherents? If I understand American Law correctly, Immigrants were to be contained to a working class Citizenship, and were in the first place not to Rule, the Land we call Our ForeFathers HomeLand, and a Natives Home? Is it right to choose a Black Kenyan African American, that had a loving Mother who felt alliances to her American past, and moved among Southern Tribes, seeking a life of peace, capable of separating his loyalties to his own people, for White America and it's ForeFathers? I think we all need to review where Immigration is at, today, in America? Are we not unwise to assume that White American Peoples are favored by All; and are we not unwise not to be fair to Our ForeFathers American Dream? There will be other Elections, and other wins, but first we should examine the Tribal rivalry, that created a reason for Immigration Reception, originally? Let us remain together - but set apart, Amen.

Monday July 14, 2008, 1:35 pm
Timothy..you gave me a much needed chuckle today. thank you. heehee
I really liked the article, although I probably wouldn't have felt the same way as I feel today, about this subject, 25 years ago..lol.

I am happy to have lived my youth, and have no desire to relive it again, in today's times. I embrace the days that I get older, with all that I have learned and still am learning. I look at life so differently now, and I live so much more peacefully, even though the chaos mounts and swirls around me, everyday. I live through the soul and not the physical, now. Something I wish I had learned many years ago, or turned to within..., since I had this power all my life, and failed to recognize it.

There really is so much beauty in this world, that I am appreciating now.., and I don't need a penny to enjoy it. I intend to enjoy everyday I have left, the best I can...thank you Cate.

Monday July 14, 2008, 2:00 pm
my spirit is young my back old

Monday July 14, 2008, 2:02 pm
For me the older I get the more I miss my Mama who passed away of Lupus. The day after Thanksgiving '08 she will be gone 19 years. Thnx Cate, noted.

Monday July 14, 2008, 2:21 pm
I've found that the best part of being 60 is being content. Yes, I'm content with myself and my life. I wouldn't go back and change anything in my life. I'm also glad that I still take a size 8 and ride my bike almost every day. I feel better physically now than I did in my 40's and 50's and I'm much more positive in my general outlook on life.

Monday July 14, 2008, 5:14 pm
They said to me "smile it could get worse"
so i smiled and lo it did did worse.

Youth is wasted on the young...I wish i knew at 20 what i know now...well maybe I was just too young to be cynical.

Monday July 14, 2008, 6:16 pm
This article should encourage people to look forward to getting old.

Monday July 14, 2008, 7:39 pm
How old would you be if you didn't know how old you was?

Tuesday July 15, 2008, 12:11 am
I have always gone with the flow, enjoyed life's highs and persisted through the lows.....always knew that someone else was worse off then I was....
But I always believed that I was only as old as the Woman I'm feeling.... lol ( still looking) and age is not chronological, it is a state of mind. How many old people have you met in their late 40's, yet a spritely 80 year old is young...has a passion for life....still with that twinkle in the eye...

Tuesday July 15, 2008, 2:19 am
by the young listenieng to to to the elder they become more experinced and by the elder being around the yonger folks brings back the good old days, it is called the circle of life. As long as each party is willing to participipate

Tuesday July 15, 2008, 2:55 am
Great article. :) I'm now in my early thirties and definitely happier than I was ten or fifteen years ago. When you're young, all feelings are very strong, depression, heartache, loneliness etc. Now that I'm older, wiser and more mature, I can better appreciate the events, and the reasons behind them and won't react to them like I did before. Also this shall pass... that's the way it goes. One reason for that is experience, and I've now lived and worked in five different countries, met many people, done different kinds of jobs... Not everything's been great, but such is life. There is no black or white. I'm looking forward to getting old, even though I have rheumatoid arthritis. I'm still learning and am now happy of smaller things... and less upset by stuff that would have had a terrible impact on me when younger. I'd not want to be 20 again. Not for a million dollars.

Tuesday July 15, 2008, 3:09 am
I was a weird child. I think my mind was born old. I was impatient to reach my goal of what I wanted to do in life so all I did was study all the time. While it produced results, I have become a workaholic. Having said that, I honestly think age is a state of mind. I have seen people in their 20s who were old, really old and I have seen people in their 80s who were really really young. They didn't even look their age. They aged so slowly that it was difficult to guess how old they really were. Oh they were wise but fun loving. My parents were like that. Fun and they never looked their age. People would be off by sometimes 20 years. lol Let's hope I inherited their genes. My interests are different from people my age. Not all but most. I still have a thirst for knowledge and I research something new every day. Now I guess I am a weird woman. LOL

Tuesday July 15, 2008, 3:18 am
So true, Elle...my mother, goddess bless her, is 87 and a firecracker. She has more get up and go than I do some days.

Tuesday July 15, 2008, 4:39 am
Thank you Cate! Good comment Raja! :)

Tuesday July 15, 2008, 5:00 am
The aspects of aging that bug me are the growing limitations things I could do before without thinking now requires planning, the aches that quickly passed now take awhile, & when I look in the mirror I see an old person looking back, or that when I see the beautiful college age ladies who filled so much of my ambitionsI now see kids

Tuesday July 15, 2008, 6:31 am
Noted with delight Cate ;) thank you.
Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!" LOL!