To Age Well

Photo by Diego Jimenez on Unsplash

When I was a kid, I was told to be a good child, respect elders, go to school and learn, make new friends, and find out what I wanted to do when I grew up. When I graduated college, my life purpose was to find a good job, make money, be able to pay for food and rent and become independent and useful to other people. Now, I’m on a mission to age well.

In the last year or so, I have been looking up health conditions every week because either I’m more sensitive to them or everyone I know around my age is dealing with something. It has become more commonplace to have health concerns and issues.

My dad replaced his knees earlier this year. My uncle replaced his kidneys soon after. They are both working on healing.

My grandaunt passed away at the age of 98, the last person to go in her generation. That marked the end of an era in my family.

I started taking medication for my liver to rid the virus that had been there probably since I was born. If that’s not enough, my A1C is now not normal. I binge-watched this woman’s YouTube channel, where she experiments with (eats) different foods and measures and shares her blood sugar level online. Something I would have never watched when I was younger.

To age well, I have accepted that my body will break. In the olden days, I would be lucky to live past 40. My body is already on an extended life period. (Grateful for that!) I don’t know what it will be, but something will stop working, and that’s just life.

Early on in my life, I had decided that if my hair grows white, I’ll leave it white. I like the silver look. I was never big on makeup (I wasn’t good at it). Now, I have even less of a desire to put anything other than moisturizer or sunblock on my face, which has collected wrinkles and dark spots. I don’t mind.

Besides my face and body, which are the most visible signs of aging, I have been thinking about how I spend my time. They say that time is the most precious resource one has. A friend told me once, “You are what you do.” I really like that. With aging, time feels even more precious.

How I want to spend my time has evolved over the years, from hanging out with single friends every night to weekend trips to major cities to reading and writing books. The list of todos has grown smaller, and I have become more selective about what I do. I’m old enough not to spend time doing what is meaningless to me or to follow someone else’s whim and desire. In the new year, I’ll take another big step and strive to be closer to people I care about and do more of what I love.

No path on this earth is perfect; one can’t have everything. I have to give up what I have to get what I want. It’s a reshuffle of priorities in my life, and feels good.

My friends can’t help but raise questions: What will you do if you have all that free time? What about your friends here? I put myself back in the mind of a high school graduate heading off to college, into the new unknown. I’ll figure it out and have plenty of new things to do. I’ll make new friends. Except now, I have a few more years of wisdom in me, more discipline, hopefully, more calm, and many more friends on my side.

I’m excited to go on a new adventure, which is part of my plan to age well.