Thoughts on Getting Older

This post isn’t solely applicable or about becoming an expat. But because so many of us who are expats – or want to be expats – are “of a certain age,” I thought it might be appropriate to post here. I struggle with so much of this “aging process” and wish I could more often just get over it and be happy with myself and where I’m at in my life. I try to remember it’s a process, y’know? I adapted this from something that was posted on a friend’s Facebook page. It was originally written for women but I’ve since heard from a good number of my make friends that they’re going through similar transitions and challenges.

To all my female friends age 40 and up: Have you ever thought: “I’m fat.” “I’m old.” “I’m not enough?” Most of us are going through the next phase of our lives. We’re at that age where we see wrinkles, gray hair, extra pounds and other things that can remain unmentioned. We see the cute 25-year-olds and reminisce. But we were also 25, just as they will one day be our age.

What they bring to the table with their youth and zest, we bring with our wisdom and experience. We have raised families, run households, paid the bills, dealt with diseases, sadness, and everything else life has assigned us. Some of us have lost those that were nearest and dearest to us. Some of us are Mothers; some of us are Grand Mothers, learning to embrace that role in the fullest sense of what it actually is.

We are the Crone, the Wise Woman, the Healer and the Knower. We are survivors. We are warriors in the quiet, women who have really been there and done that. Even if our bodies aren’t what they once were, they are still carrying our souls, our courage and our strength. We are so much more than what can be seen on the outside.

We can fill this chapter of our lives with humility, compassion, wisdom and grace. We can be proud of the lives we’ve led and the lives we’ve touched; the lessons we’ve learned, the difficulties we’ve overcome and the joy we’ve given, experienced and shared. We can proudly and gratefully count our many, many blessings, while at the same time looking forward to those that are yet to come.

We should never feel bad about getting older; it’s a privilege sadly denied to so many. When we look in the mirror let us rejoice and recognize that we are, like wine, literally becoming finer and more delicious as we age.

Amigas, I invite you to love and embrace your Self now more than ever. Remain steadfast and true amidst waves of gratitude for the years already seen, and open your heart to the rest of the life that is unfolding before you!