By Rebecca Talley
My grandmother had many sayings, one of which was, "Age is only mind over matter, if you don't mind, it don't matter."
Since I'll be celebrating my birthday in two days, I've been thinking about age. I enjoyed Doug's post about his experience with his 8 year old daughter. We had a similar experience when we took our kids to the local recreation center to go swimming. My husband was holding our youngest child and he ran into an old classmate who asked if he was holding his grandchild. "No," my husband answered, "it's my son." I'm sure it's not that we look old enough to have grandkids (right?), it's that people our age have already raised their kids and are now empty nesters. We won't have an empty nest for almost another 20 years. That gives me pause.
Last Sunday, my son's best friend spoke in Sacrament Meeting because he just returned from his mission in the Ukraine. (My son will be home in less than 5 months, but who's counting?). This young man shared some of his mission experiences. He said, "We taught this very old couple. They must've been in their eighties, so they were very, very old." A couple sitting in front of us looked at each other and snickered because they are both close to that age. After the meeting, I leaned over and told them, "Age is relative."
Isn't it? When I was a teenager, I thought that 30 was so old that your life was over. When I hit 30, I remember thinking how it wasn't as old as I had once thought. Now, I look at people that are 30 and think, "Wow, they're so young."
50 isn't nearly as old as it used to be, either. I'm still a long way from reaching 50, but my sisters-in-law have already reached that milestone and they still seem rather young.
Age is only relative and is in the eye of the beholder. "If you don't mind, it don't matter."
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5 comments:
I sure hope you are right because I'm hitting the big 48 next month. I still feel 13- that's the biggest problem.
I guess as long as you don't act 13 then it's okay :)
Grandma used to say she'd look in the mirror and wonder who that old woman was looking back at her. She still felt so young. Of course, I thought she was nuts--she was an old lady. Now, I understand what she meant.
Wait for my next post...I will be MUCH older.
I still think I look the same as I did when I was in college or when I got married... until I look at a picture of myself then and now and really compare. I expect that I should be able to fit into something smaller... until I weigh myself or try it on and realize how ridiculously small it is on me. We change on the outside without even realizing it because it happens so gradually. Sometimes we don't change enough on the inside or change the wrong way. If we could get our spiritual and emotional maturity to match up with our physical maturity, we'd be doing a lot better I think! Thanks for the thoughts and the nice post. I like Grandma's quote! :-)
Rebecca,
You are so right. Who knew life begins at 60! I have never had a greater sence of purpose. How greatful I am.
My mother had a baby at 45. My dad was ten years older than her. What I joy my sister Laura was (and still is) to all of us.
Happy belated birthday!
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