On Growing Old Gracefully by Cindy Vanhoff

I guess I always thought I would be young! And feel young. Oh, the naivety of the young.

I am approaching my 60th birthday. I can’t even believe I just typed that number! I see all my classmates birthdays come up on Facebook, and they are turning 60 too. How the hell did that happen?

I wanted to grow old gracefully.

Just last April, that meant

Jet skiing

Summers in and on the water

Zip-lining

Climbing Mayan Ruins

Lifting Weights and Working out

Bootcamps

Doing the heavy lifting and moving with my organizing clients

Being independent and relying on myself

Just last April, I found that I needed to change my definition of “growing old gracefully”. You see, April 2018 I fell 40’ off of a Mayan Ruin. I survived to tell the tale. And, perhaps to learn some things.

I still want to grow old gracefully.

That now means

Giving myself grace for my limitations

Giving others grace, period

Being thankful each day that I live and breathe and walk here on this earth

Being joyful about the things I can do

Knowing it’s ok to miss the things I used to be able to do

Having a positive outlook that things will get better and I will do those things again

Being ok if they don’t and I can’t

To do my best with where I am and who I am today

Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength.

Betty Friedan
Cindy Vanhoff
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