Aging My Way
“The mind is its own place, and in it self can make a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n.” — William Henry Hudson, from Paradise Lost
I follow a group called Happy Hippies on Face Book, which posts things old broad octogenarians like me can relate to. For example, I came across this one this morning: Don’t mess with me. I’m a wooden spoon, lead paint, no car seat, no bike helmet, pickup bed riding, garden hose drinking survivor.
Yup! That’s me.
And then there was this Happy Hippy post that I came across a while back. It described me so well that I copied it down in my journal: “Maybe the happy ending is that you fall in love with your life, eat your favorite foods, admire sunrises and sunsets, pick up the book you’ve been meaning to finish, dance to your favorite songs, buy yourself flowers and bring your mind back to how truly blessed you are,”
I think what it comes down to, as William Henry Hudson said, is choosing joy, no matter what is going on in your life — or whatever is going on around you. That’s wise advice for these times.
Pat Bean is a retired award-winning journalist who lives in Tucson with her canine companion Scamp. She is an avid reader whose mind is always asking questions (many of which are unanswerable), an enthusiastic birder, staff writer for Story Circle Network’s Journal, author of Travels with Maggie available on Amazon (Free on Kindle Unlimited), and is always searching for life’s silver lining. She also believes one is never too old to chase a dream.
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