Getting Older, Getting Wiser

Sometimes life just smacks you right in the mouth when you let your guard down. Take for instance, that great feeling when you graduate from high school when you feel you've finally arrived in the state of adulthood. You've been waiting and dreaming of this day for years. You've preached at your parents over and over, just wait until I'm 18. And then you've arrive and finally you're on an equal footing with all those other "big" people you've known all your life. Wham! Life hits you with that pie in the face when you realize you're going to have to call home because you don't know how to unclog the toilet.

You're sitting sprawled out relaxing on your couch watching TV on a Tuesday night. Suddenly it hits you that these young people laughing and partying on TV aren't quite as old as you are now. You remember those days, but somehow the idea of going out to get pizza at 1:30 in the morning doesn't seem to appeal to you as much as it once did. And then you begin to wonder, don't these people have to get up in the morning?

The phone rings. You glance at the clock and realize it's 11:30, and you've been asleep for an hour and a half. Must be something wrong. No one calls you after 9:00 anymore. You're not quite as nice as you would have been at 7:30 the next morning when you find out it's some kid calling his friend. Your comment is, "Don't you know what time it is?" And then you spend the next hour trying to get back to sleep.

One of my favorites is when you go to the doctor for a checkup, and you wonder how long this little boy's been out of school. Let's see, if he went through four years of college and three years of medical school, how old could he be? Funny, to you he looks about 20. How can he possibly explain to you about that unexplained pain you now have in your joints?

There's the first time someone calls you "ma'am" or "sir" just for courtesy sake because someone down the line has told him to respect his elders. This is a worse blow than the first time someone offers you the senior citizens discount, and you're only 45. To that young 15 year-old girl, everyone over 30 looks the same age.

One of the best is when a young person wants to interview you for a history assignment because they need someone who lived during a certain event in the past, such as Watergate or the Vietnam War. Talk about bursting your bubble. It makes you want to take that hair color bottle and fling it at somebody.

How about that first time some kid rolls their eyes when you start telling a story or giving advice? You know what they're thinking, "here she goes again." Excuse me, but at the moment my memory's intact, and believe it or not, I have learned a couple of things along the way.

And then there's that wake-up call when you turn 50 and realize that you're half a century old. Whoa!

Of course, there's that moment when you're stopped in your tracks because apparently the air is thinner than it used to be, and you realize that physically your best years are behind you. It feels like somebody hit you in the face with cold water.

Nothing wrong with getting older. The trick is to not let those slaps in the face slow you down. When you think about it, I'd say it beats the alternative by a long shot. I think the best way to handle it is give those young ones a look that implies you know just about everything and smile. After all, their day's coming.

Source:

Life Experience