Back in the Day
Laguna Beach 1990
Laguna Beach 1990
Last year at this time, I was preparing for a trip to New Orleans to mutually celebrate, with friends, our 60th birthdays. I was full of angst about how I looked, how I would get around as we were staying near the Quarter and would be walking most of the time. I needed a long-overdue knee replacement and I felt so old. Sixty is a daunting birthday when it's in front of you. I was in constant pain, feeling quite unattractive and unable to do most things I once did without effort. Inotherwords, not a happy camper.
A year later, I have a new knee, I feel better than I have in 11 years when I had my first hip replacement, my body is in better shape thanks to a two year work out regimen pre-op, post-op and ongoing training. I'm comparatively pain-free and it is a game changer.
Certain birthdays are milestones. We should use them as time for reflection, not self-recrimination. Most of us are way too hard on ourselves, too critical, too judgmental, too regretful.
Mistakes are made. Bodies change. Faces age. Goals soften. That is life.
I'm happier now than I've been in eleven years. I'm glad that birthday is behind me. I'm approaching 61 and I honestly don't care.
What a difference a year makes.
