I always thought I would be the kind of person to age gracefully -- but I'm not.
Not a day goes by when I am not complaining about achy joints, poor eye sight, and tight pants (that I keep just in case one day they magically become 'not so' tight),

Sigh. So why is that we fall apart as we get older? I think it is because its in God's plan for us to become detached from this world - which turns to dust - to prepare our mind and heart
for heaven. By the time we die - we're ready, willing, and able.

It beats the alternative.

Jubilate, I think there is wisdom in what you say. I think that when we realize that we become more content with life. Finally, I am reaching that point. The only world I've yet to fully conquer is myself. I'm content with that.

It's a blessing and a curse. When I was younger, everything in my body worked beautifully....but did I ever use it for bad purposes. And emotionally, I was like a kid with way, way, too much testosterone and vinegar. I gave ulcers, not got them, and everything was approached with an aggressive cockiness that I now look back on with extreme embarrassment. I pretty much stayed that way until my father died. That's when I got old. Now, my body is in constant disrepair. A good day is measured by the lack of discomfort. On the other hand, I have much more peace in my soul. I have much more perspective. I'm much more forgiving of the faults in others that I now see in myself. I've recovered much more of the innocence that I once had as a child.

All of us are getting old.

Yea, one day older than yesterday.
It still amuses me when the 40 somethings talk about being old. From my perspective you're still kids.

I felt younger when I got YouCat, a catechism for the youth.

Cancer survivor here. I love birthdays. I like getting older because there was a point when I didn't think I would make it to 45.

What a nice way of looking at it.

EVERYBODY seems young to somebody who is even one year older, when he turned 90, Oliver Wendall Holmes said he would kill to be as young as 70 again. There are people today who 105,110, 115 years old who think that 90 is young.

I appear to have, in my early forties, just reached the point of painfully learning the lesson that what I eat matters.

I'm going to be 75 in a couple of months. I never felt so happy in my life! Not that everything is perfect.....there is a lot to pray for in my family, and still more to go on my spiritual journey, but I have learned, over the years, to trust the Lord more in all things, and to rest in Him.

I remember being at a church meeting about 30 years ago where I overheard one woman ask another about her recent retreat, and what did she get out of it. The woman answered "The Lord said to me 'say yes to wrinkles and say yes to gray hair' ".

So....rejoice! (It is in God's plan, as you said.)

It's good you learned that early on! Over the last 12 years I have drastically changed the way I eat, and like the new discoveries I make about different foods.

For example: Greek yogurt with fruit for a snack, hot oatmeal with honey and walnuts for breakfast, never fried food (fish and chicken breast slices dipped in beaten egg, then breadcrumbs and browned in the oven at 400 degrees) salads with lots of interesting things in it, flat breads made with whole grains, rerduced fat cheese,......and of course lasagna made with reduced fat riccotta cheese, and reduced fat mozzarelle cheese! (not too often! )

I actually don't mind being older...with age you gain experience and wisdom, and I rarely find myself repeating the same mistakes, moreover with age you gain perspective...you know.....25 years later the fact that girl you asked out who turned you down cold and sent you into a week long depression....that doesn't seem like such a big deal....

The only thing I hate about getting older is the pysical deterioration of the body and even that I can tolerate because, as was said earlier 'it beats the alternative'.

The worst thing about it is that I have to look in the obituaries to see my old friends.

What's worse is seeing my younger friends in the obits. Some days every obit is my age or younger.

Well that just means you got he last laugh, doesn't it?

You know you're getting old when...

1. You and your teeth don't sleep together.

2. Your try to straighten out the wrinkles in your socks and discover you aren't wearing any.

3. At the breakfast table you hear snap, crackle, pop and you're not eating cereal.

4. Your back goes out but you stay home.

5. When you wake up looking like your driver's license picture.

6. It takes two tries to get up from the couch.

7. When your idea of a night out is sitting on the patio.

8. When happy hour is a nap.

9. When you're on vacation and your ENERGY runs out before your money does.

10. When you say something to your kids that your mother said to You, and you always hated it.

11. When all you want for your birthday is to not be reminded of your age.

12. When you step off a curb and look down one more time to make sure the street is still there.

13. Your idea of weight lifting is standing up.

14. It takes longer to rest than it did to get tired.

15. Your memory is shorter and your complaining lasts longer.

16. Your address book has mostly names that start with Dr.

17. You sit in a rocking chair and can't get it going.

18. The pharmacist has become your new best friend.

19. Getting "lucky" means you found your car in the parking lot.

20. The twinkle in your eye is merely a reflection from the sun on your bifocals.

21. It takes twice as long - to look half as good.

22. Everything hurts, and what doesn't hurt - doesn't work.

23. You look for your glasses for half an hour and they were on your head the whole time.

24. You sink your teeth into a steak and they stay there.

25. You give up all your bad habits and still don't feel good.

26. You have more patience, but it is actually that you just don't care anymore.

27. You finally get your head together and your body starts falling apart.

28. You wonder how you could be over the hill when you don't even remember being on top of it.

That reminds me of one of my favorite ones: you know you're getting old when you can't get up out of your chair without making a groaning noise.....

Unfortunately, I passed that a long time ago....my mother tells me that my 'mmmmmmmmppppphhhhhh' sound when I get up out of the chair sounds like her grandmother when she was 80!