Getting Older Does Have Its Perks

Perhaps it has just hit you that you are getting older. You’ve crossed that fifty mark. You may even be at a crossroad in your life…oh no!

Maybe your waistline has grown and few more gray hairs are covering your head. Or, you may even be bald by now. What does it matter? Hopefully by now you are not out to impress anybody, and you finally have confidence in yourself…or not? In any event, there are perks in getting older that most people do not generally talk about. What are they?

Here are some of the more trivial perks in climbing the timely ladder called age:

1. You can now have a slight beer belly and few people will say anything; at least not to your face.
2. Your clothes that you once thought had to be perfectly matched are now just clean and presentable if you have time. Wrinkled clothes might even work.
3. You may not care to remember something for obvious reasons, and it can be passed off as the beginning of dementia.
4. People don’t expect you to physically move as fast as you use to. Slowing down is now acceptable. People won’t be asking you to do as much yard work. Maybe a weed or two here or there.

Seriously, the most important perk though, in my opinion, is that your priorities are finally in the right place. What you fretted about when you were younger is now meaningless. And, what you are concerned with now generally is really significant. What do I mean?

Example…When I was first married everything had to be in perfect place in the house. If my husband put his cup down and walked out of the room for a moment, his cup was washed and put away. Pretty nuts. Now of course, I’m not a slob; but, I realize as I have gotten older that the house is for the people that live there. Not the other way around. It doesn’t need to be perfect nor should it be. All should feel comfortable and relaxed.

Put simply, life is short. As you age you finally realize that little irritations can be let go, things do not need to be perfect, and expecting perfection from others is ridiculous. Stubborness should be a thing of the past. You finally know that compromise, forgiveness, laughter and love are the perks that should overflow in your life now.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could learn and apply these perks earlier in life?

This story is published in a Few Words, Medium’s brand new publication which only accepts stories that have less than 500 words.

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