Aging

For some time I have been thinking about the fact that I am aging. This may seem like paranoia, but it isn’t. I see myself starting to deal with typical things of my age, glasses, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, the fact that when I carry heavy stuff or go up steep slopes I get tired. I remember a few years ago when my grandfather tried to help sharing the load of a light mattress we said not to, and he felt offended. We had hurt his feelings. At the time I was too young to understand but we had told him that he was not up to it anymore. We don’t realize that we are aging, that the body is not the same. Our spirit is young but….
I also notice the fact that I am aging in many things, first, through my parents and the fact that they are getting old, second, with my kids growing up. Victoria will be leaving to go to college in just a few months, and Ian has become a young gentleman. It is amazing how fast time flies, not just with my kids growing up, but I did realize it because of the reunion that we had during my last trip to Argentina. It did not affect me to see them changed, because I see myself every day in the mirror and I realize that we all change. But the thing that affected me the most, and I think I am trying to still come to terms with is the fact that 35 years have passed since we finished high school. It is the time factor that has me shocked. I cannot believe that such a long time has passed since our graduation. And I am not one of those longing for the past, even though it may appear that way. I know other people who long for days gone by but I look at life in a different way. I am thankful for those moments, I cherish them but I am happy with the present. What I mean by the present is not that everything is perfect, nothing ever is, the past was not perfect either. What I mean is that the present is all I have, and I am living it, enjoying the moment.
And I don’t think it makes any sense to look into the future. If we worry about the future we do not enjoy the present. The past is a memory, and usually we choose the memories that we are interested in, that’s why we think that it was better.
Going back to aging it is just alarming how fast time flies. Life goes by in just a blink of an eye. Or we can look at the glass half full and say “time flies when you are having fun”.