I recently was speaking to my Great Aunt who celebrated at milestone birthday? Which milestone, I couldn’t tell you but each birthday in life is a milestone. When asked how old she is her reply remains the same. “Age is a number, and mine is unlisted.” This generally gains a chuckle from those around her. Her reason for this response is based in an important truth, age is what we make of it, not what it says on a calendar.
In today’s newspaper (yes, I did not read this online, I had a physical newspaper), there was an article of a woman who runs daily, competes and is 100 years old. In today’s world there are fewer things where age matters. It is often more a state of mind.
I know my friends and I often wonder how their kids or others around us are growing older while we are staying the same. We often say, “I don’t feel my age.” And guess what, there is no definition of how someone should feel at a certain age. Yes, as we grow older more aches and pains may surface, but it’s how we choose to age that matters.
Each day we make choices, including what to eat, who we see, how much movement we engage in and how we emotionally approach out day, the people and the situations around us. Every one of these choices impact how we feel and our state of mind. What does age have to do with it? Absolutely nothing. Whatever our age, these are our choices and these are what matter.
As I was talking with my Great Aunt she mentioned she had received a call from my Uncle. She went on to say how nice it was to hear from him and that he “is such a good kid”. I chuckled and she asked why. Being that my uncle was in college when I was born, I said, “If he is a kid, what am I a toddler?”
Age is a state of mind, and I choose maybe not to be toddler but I’ll stick with being young. What about you?