Jess and Jeremy

So, I’m not going to lie and pretend that I haven’t spent my fair share of time struggling with the idea of getting older.  There is something really unsettling about the rising number attached to you that is difficult to ignore sometimes.  There are absolutely things about aging that I don’t love.  For instance, I am not a fan of crow’s feet.  I don’t love that my body doesn’t respond to my crash diets like it used to.  Being called ma’am (yes, it’s happened twice now) makes me want to throw up a little bit.  And the never-ending nagging of the social pressures attached to age is, of course, part of the equation.

All that being said however, I have to say that as I’ve spent some time thinking about adding another number to my age, I’ve come to one conclusion.  I absolutely LOVE where I am at in my life right now.   I wouldn’t trade where I am now for where I was 10 years ago or 5 years ago for anything in the world.  

I feel like the older that you get the more intensely you get to feel great things about life.  It could be because you learn to really appreciate things once you have gone through more of the challenges and struggles.  Or possibly, it’s the fact that as you move along in your life, the things that you deal with are really and truly on such a bigger scale.  I don’t think that anything could ever compare to the mass of emotions that you feel when dealing with children and your own little family.  Whatever the reason, it is something that is undeniable to me.  The ups are so incredibly high, the stress is so overwhelming, and there are a lot of moments that are truly life-changing, but I have learned to love that intensity.  I have also learned that no matter how bad it feels like things may be sometimes, life has proven time and time again that it will ALWAYS turn around and when it does, you will be stronger, smarter, and better off than you ever were before.

So – I suppose I’m forcing myself to emotionally age gracefully and accept it, now if I can just work on accepting the physical aging as well!