Sixty is the New Forty-Five for Women
by Linda ~ November 1st, 2008
I turned sixty this year, just about six months ago. I gave myself quite a celebration when I turned fifty but I just kind of slipped through the sixty keyhole without too much notice or fanfare. About three months after this main event, I was standing in line at Sweet Tomatoes to pay for my dinner when I noticed their senior rate was age 60. So, I wave my arms and exclaim so all may hear: “I’m 60, I’m 60″….and there you go…my birthday celebration!
I can remember my Mother and her best friend Sleepy Bierman sitting at our kitchen table at Schilling Air Force Base in Salina Kansas talking how at the age they were then, maybe 45, they still felt 25. That’s how I feel at sixty - I feel like I am 45….only better! I am healthier, smarter, richer and so much better at not taking things personally. I believe women, because of their nurturing spirits, spend most of their lives getting over things that have absolutely nothing to do with them. I don’t take anything personally anymore. I know that whoever is pushing my button, it’s my button and I can either heal it or let people keep pushing it. Conversely, if I push someone’s emotional button, I know that it’s their stuff they need to work on and has nothing to do with me. What freedom that gives me.
Aging gracefully requires you to make sure there are certain life components in place. One component that has become most critical to me in the past week is a strong social and emotional support system of family and friends. I have been sitting by my Father’s bedside these past 12 days after he ended up in ICU because of a routine endoscopy that resulted in a perforated esophagus. Believe me there is nothing routine about an endoscopy. We, my Dad’s family have been close, supportive, helpful. We sit by his bedside, hold his hand, chase down nurses, learn more medical jargon then we ever wanted to learn, but mostly we show him how much we love and care about him.
Dad has a good chance of recovery at 88 because he took such good care of himself with diet and exercise. He also made sure that all of his financial affairs are in order and concise so his family has no worries. It is a continuation of how he took care of his family throughout his life.
My Dad has been having detailed drug-induced dreams. One he told me about was that my brother Steve was going to start a family business so the whole family could work together. My Dad told me how happy this made him because he would finally have a purpose in life and be close to his family. That’s what life is all about isn’t it? Having a purpose and being with the people you love.
Linda Ann Smith
Speaker, Author, Ritual Expert
Power of Rituals