Getting Older Changes Your Reality

~ humoringthegoddess


How many times have you said “I wish I knew then what I know now”?

Makes getting older sound much more appealing, doesn’t it?

It is a basic fact that older people have a larger pool of information to pull from when it comes to shaping their reality. Many years worth of pooling. 

And not all that’s drawn from the pool is useful.

Would middle schoolers benefit from the knowledge that other kids can be bullies and things brighten up once they get to high school? Would college kids be more successful if they knew the intricacies of moving up in the working world? Would millennials be better off if they realized how important health care and savings plans will be thirty years in their future?

Unfortunately, human beings learn from personal experience. Not that all personal experiences are soul building and world awakening. I have never smoked in my life but I knew then and know now how bad a habit it is. I’ve never had a broken bone nor had an emotional trauma experience before I was 25.

Does that mean I should have experienced all of the above to be a more well rounded senior adult?

When I chose the topic Getting Older Changes Your Reality I was thinking about reality from a senior point of view. My body has changed, my energy level has changed, my hormones definitely have changed, forcing me to adapt in ways I never imagined when I was 30.

These kinds of changes cannot be planned for. You can be fit all of your life and still lack energy to hike to the furthest soccer field. You could watch your sugar intake all your life and still turn into a diabetic. You could go to college and major in Anthropology just to work on computers in a bank 10 years later. (I knew someone that happened to…)

What you can Do and what you can Be changes as your reality changes. You may have wanted one child and would up with three. You may have wanted to move to Paris when you were young and still find yourself in suburbia. Often your youthful reality is not your future reality.

One pleasant surprise of my senior reality is that I’m finally getting to do some the things I wanted to do in my youthful reality. I’ve touched the Eiffel Tower and walked through Roman ruins. I’ve had wonderful grandkids who have made me feel young again (mentally, at least), and have the time to continue art art projects I started in my 20s.

I still worry about money and my health and if I’ll wake up tomorrow to enjoy another day. But those are things I have minimum control over, so I do what I can and let time take the wheel.

As you get older you find that the things you worry about today won’t matter much tomorrow. You have no say about political candidates, company policies, and illness such as cancer. You have no control over who lives and who passes on. You don’t even really know if there’s an afterlife. 

Getting older changes your reality, and you finally get that you have less control over you life than you thought. What will be will be and all that.

All you can do is choose the swirly bumpy road instead of the straight one, and see what happens.

You will wind up at the same place anyway.

 

 

 

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Published by humoringthegoddess

I am a writer of fantasy fiction that often surrounds middle-aged women. I am a married mother of two and granny to three, a BoHo Chic kinda gal. I am recently retired and busier than when I worked 9-5. But writing and blogging is my main game.

13 thoughts on “Getting Older Changes Your Reality”

  1. I can relate to all of the above. When I was young I thought I would have a perfect life, no worries and all that. How naive was that ! I grew up in a small country village, my parents both worked and we never had problems. We went on a 3 week vacation every year and life was good, so I thought my life would be good. Now I know your life can change in one second. But I think it is good that when you are young you still think life will be good. It is possible ofcourse. Not that I am complaining, when I feel sorry for myself I think of my neighbour who had a huge bleed on her brain and is severely handicapt, and when I think of the people in Russia and Ukraine, and and ….so many countries are at war at the moment, well they live in hell every single day. So I count my blessings, it helps to see things in perspective !

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    1. I feel just as you do. I wonder if it takes a lifetime to realize the small stuff means nothing — that reality can be tough. As you know, I’ve suffered a major loss too, and have learned to make secondary decisions with a grain of salt. The funny thing is the older I get, the more innocent I want to be. There is so much I can do nothing about, so why not embrace the future with a childlike innocence when possible?

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      1. Yes, what will be will be. Yesterday it was my son’s 46 th birthday, on December 3rd he’ll be death for 16 years.

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  3. Wow, Claudia, those are some deep thoughts. Good ones, too. Choosing the swirly, bumpy road is good advice. I think you’ve embraced your senior years well.

    I am still in denial. I love the meme that says, “I hate being the same age as old people.” The problem is my “mind’s eye.” In my mind’s eye, I am younger. I am able to do anything – handle anything. I lie about my age. 🙂 … But, occasionally, reality does set in, and I realize my golden years are upon me. Crap!

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    1. You know, I still feel that way too. I was working on my drawings today, listening to southern rock, and FreeBird came on. I cranked it up, closed my eyes, and played air guitar to the amazing last half of the song. At that moment I was closer to 20 than 70! ❤️

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  4. They say getting older is not for wimps, but then being young is not for wimps either. What I have found is that I am more accepting and don’t get so frustrated when things don’t turn out as planned. All in all, it’s been a good ride and this part is the gravy. xo

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