Who said it was bad to grow old? I don't know who said that, if someone did, but there seems to be the general idea in society that getting old is a bad thing. Otherwise why do people spend so much money on stuff to keep them from looking old? It seems to me there's only one other alternative, and most people don't want that either.
Maybe it takes a dog to get us to see that old isn't so bad after all. Stump, a ten year old Sussex spaniel, just won the top dog honors at the Westminster Dog Show in NYC. How's that for old? My, there were some pretty foxy looking dogs in that show. Some were sort of strange looking, some you could hardly see their face, and others looked like a nicely groomed mop running around the room. But Stump beat them all.
They say that ten years on a dog equals about 70 years on a human. Can you imagine a 70 year old woman winning the Miss America contest? That's about equal to what happened last night on the dog show. Oh I know that there are some people who try to dress and act like they are 40, 50 years younger than they really are. But they can't fool me! Most of the time that is. Especially if their knees are showing - or their belly button for Pete's sake! Ol' Stump he was just himself last night and showed up everybody.
Getting old isn't so bad if one learns that you can be yourself and present yourself clean, dressed properly (whatever that is), well groomed, and behave like your age. Learning to grow older gracefully makes a person someone whom others like to be around, to associate with.
Here at the Villa it always inspires me when I see older residents dressed neat and nice. I often compliment them when I see them looking nice, "nice dress, nice shirt," etc. Almost without exception they will smile and say "thank you." These folks have found a way to grow older and still be "good looking" in their own way.
Perhaps we can all learn from Stump and his owner, that we don't need to fret when we realize that "old" is creeping up on us. Who said "old" was bad? I only do when my aches and pains seem to be getting the best of me. And even then I can take courage when I see people much older than I managing to deal with their aging in a respectable way. It makes me want to say, I hope I can be like they are when I'm that old. And with that I must say that I just remain --
Pilgrim on the way
1 comment:
Thanks. Growing older is something that is hurtling down on me, too. I hope I have the dignity to remain both content and happy with my situation, whatever it may be, or become.
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