Aging gets a bad rap. We covet youth, we dread getting older. As we age, we are marketed to with products that will “defy” aging, that will hide wrinkles, grey hair, and improve our energy, health and vitality. Youth is the goal.
We start to dread our birthdays. We tease that this year is the ‘20th anniversary of our 20th birthday.’ Whatever we can do to hide the fear, the apprehension, and the marked disdain for getting older.I want to tell you that aging is a gift, but I think it’s much bigger than that.
We work hard each day, don’t we?
Days may be given to us, but we do things each day to grow ourselves, to strengthen our family, and to build our lives.
We manage our households, we raise strong kids, we serve our communities. Some of us work outside the home, some of us have careers we manage between homeschooling and diaper changing. Some of us still manage to get to church on Sundays, or train for a half-marathon, or march downtown for social justice. Some of us take medication to help us just get out of bed each day because we want more for ourselves than to just exist.
We want to LIVE. These days aren’t just gifts, they are hard work!
In sobriety, I count my days sober – recognizing every day as a day earned. Today I look at my sober app, and I’m 909 days sober today. That is an achievement to be proud of. 909 days of hard work! The days were gifts, but what I chose to make of those days? That was all me.I wish we did this more around aging in general.
We accomplish so much in our lives. What if we looked at birthdays as a promotion, not a gift. We worked hard to get here!
Achievements, milestones, blood, sweat, tears, and heck of a lot of luck got us to this next birthday.
Can you imagine how much more fun a birthday celebration would be if we didn’t look at it meekly, or even with morbid undertones of what it means to get older, and instead saw it as a promotion to a bigger, more fulfilling position?
Last year, I was PROMOTED to my 40’s, the Director-level position of life. I will work hard this decade to reach my 50’s, the VP’s of living. 60’s is the C-Suite, and 70’s and up are basically King/Queen status. Gosh, I can’t wait to level up to royalty.
And to you my friends, as you near your next big promotions – the Director, VPs and C-Suites, of living – I hope you too, get exciting and giddy. Living is a gift but aging is a well-earned promotion. Wrinkles and grey hairs are bullet points on our life resumes.
And someday, I hope we all reach aging royalty. Eventually, we can all hope to earn that crown.
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