Freedom Comes with Age

I received this email from a friend and it is so perfect, I had to pass it on. The comments in ( ) are my own personal observations.

Freedom Comes With Age
Author Unknown

I have seen too many dear friends and family leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer (or read or write) until 4 AM and sleep until noon (doesn't happen in my world)? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60 &70s (mostly 80s), and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love .... I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set.

They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face.

So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think (isn't that the truth!). I don't question myself anymore (at least not as much).

I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I'm (learning to) like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become and I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day(if I feel like it).

MAY OUR FRIENDSHIP NEVER COME APART ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART!