Life

This is from one of the most beautiful e-mails I've ever received and I say Amen to that!

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become kinder to and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie or for not making my bed or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon, before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4am and sleep til noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60s & 70s and if I wish to weep over a lost love, I will. I will walk the beach in a swimsuit that is stretched over a bulging body and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose, despite the pitying glances from the current jet set. They too will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful, but then again, some of life is just as well forgotten. I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can a heart not break when you lose a loved one, when a child suffers or even when someone loses a beloved pet? Broken hearts are what gives us strength, understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turn gray and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what others think. I rarely question myself anymore and I've earned the right to be wrong.

I embrace my aging. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am here, I will not waste time lamenting what may have been or what could be. And I shall eat dessert whenever I feel like it! 

(author unknown)