by EstherLou

Created on: July 01, 2008

Growing old is a fact of life. It's a given. We are born striving and eager to grow older. As we age, we want to experience new things, learn and do and grow. We want to stretch ourselves and accomplish goals.

It is only after about 40 years, that we realize that time has passed much too quickly. There is so much more to learn and to accomplish. The more we learn, the more we realize how little we know and that there is much more to discover. We begin to take stock of our lives and wonder where the time has gone. We begin to judge our lives by what we have done and what is left undone.

We then begin to notice the advantages and disadvantages to this aging process we are in. If we're lucky, we've reached some of those goals we set so long ago. We have a job and have learned skills or become proficient at what we do. We may even enjoy what we do and derive great satisfaction from each days accomplishments.

We become "comfortable in our skin". We know how things work and are seldom surprised. We feel we have at last reached the pinnacle of what we were searching for all these past years. We become at peace with our world. We still try new things to challenge ourselves, but we are pretty much content with who and what we are.

We may have a spouse and a family and have watched each person grow, develop and benefit from our guidance and direction. After all, we have learned a few things along the way and have been able to share this hard-earned wisdom. How gratifying it becomes when someone actually appreciates these pearls of wisdom we share.

We also begin to notice physical changes as we grow older. We can no longer do easily what we did when we were younger. We develop laugh lines and wrinkles. Gray hair creeps in when we're not looking. Our hearing may diminish and our eyesight needs help. What once was firm may now sag a bit or shift downward with the pull of gravity and time.

We discover aches and pains from accumulated years of work or play. They begin to play a major part in our lives. Arthritis becomes our newest companion. We require less sleep. We become a "senior citizen" and enjoy discounts and deference given to the "elderly". We embrace arthritis-strength medication and need help in controlling our blood pressure or age-related diabetes. Dieting may become necessary as we realize we can no longer eat like a teenager. We learn to accept more frequent trips to the bathroom as a way of life. The irony is, about the time we are comfortable with our place in

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