Re-Post of: Riding Through Life

Aging ~ a topic often met with fear, laughter or derision.
So many jokes about so much of it, as if it were inevitable.

And then there’s the saying ‘aging gracefully’ ~
now what does that mean?
There’s a tendency to be resentful, with a bit less stamina, not graceful.
A disliked phrase? ~ ‘it’s just part of aging,’
Often said with a gentle, almost patronizing tone,
a pat on the head wouldn’t be surprising.

Quite frankly I don’t have time for any of it.
I do know that I have learned to do things differently ~ 
at different paces,
what’s absolutely necessary and what is not
words jumble, tumble and dart away from the tip of my tongue

In high school the big question was, and still is:  What do you want to be when you grow up?
When you’re 65, and still working: When are you going to retire?

What happened to the growing up part, all that space in between?
Not ready to park my bike any time soon, I’ll just keep on riding.

“Age to me means nothing.I can’t get old;I’m working. 

I was old when I was twenty-one and out of work. 

As long as you’re working, you stay young. 

When I’m in front of an audience, all that love and vitality 

sweeps over me and I forget my age.”

~ George Burns (1886-1996)