When we’re young we don’t think about aging or getting old. Yet, some of us are lucky to live to be 70 + years old.

“ I wish it need not happen in my time,” said Frodo.

” So do I, “said Gandalf,” and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

So we all just have to decide what to do with that time given us. When we’re young we don’t think about such things unless we are facing some mortality.

I have always been an avid exerciser and loved it. In my twenties, I ran, did ballet, and tennis, and hiked and backpacked and did Yoga. In 1976 I took one of the very first Vipassana meditation classes. Basically, it’s just watching your breath and letting your thoughts go. Pretty much like Zen Meditation. It’s always been a practice of mine. Nowadays they call it Mindful Meditation so it doesn’t sound so foreign to the average American. In my thirties, I did lots of hiking, yoga, and then swimming. Not too much running then . In my forties, much of the same and then started weight lifting at a local gym. Now in my 70’s I swim and do weights and walk almost every day. I was also a vegetarian at 18 till my mid-forties and then ate a little fish and chicken so maybe a modified vegetarian. That’s what I still do.

When I was diagnosed with Myeloma at 52, who with my background would have thought? Certainly not my young self. But there I was and here I am 20 years later. I still exercise and eat mostly a vegetarian diet. So is there a clue to being cancer-free? I doubt it. I think DNA breakdown is the most likely reason and why that is, is anyone’s guess.

I can’t do what I used to do and sometimes I feel age is creeping into my body. I’m certainly stiffer and more arthritis-y but I still can get around. My balance sometimes feels slightly off and I have to watch going up or down stairs. So there are lots of ‘old age’ things creeping in. So accepting limitations is a good thing. It’s hard to do but necessary.

So the wonder of aging, is that we get to be that older person. I wish I was a ‘cool’ old person who was sophisticated and always looked chic. But in my world, yoga pants or jeans and T-shirts are it. I look at people like Helen Mirren and go wow, how beautiful and chic she is. Well, that’s not me but I am wonderous of getting to be 72 in a few weeks time. And I will decide, each and every day what to do with the time that is given me.