Thoughts on turning 53 years old

I still need 9 hours at night for a good rest, just like in my youth.

I still call women my age “girls”.

I am starting to feel wiser.

I still make stupid mistakes, which usually cancels out the previous thought.

Each birthday year I am thankful to still be here; not everybody in my immediate family had that privilege.

I am grateful that I have arrived at 53 in near perfect health. I don’t take that for granted.

I have an excellent memory. I can remember scenes from my childhood, recount day after day of my teen years. What seems to fade with time are the strong feelings I had at certain moments of hurt, pain, disappointment and sadness. I remind myself of this when I’m having those feelings now, this too shall pass…

Whenever I think, “maybe I’m too old to be racing…”, I go and check out the finish line times of my peers in any Marathon or Ironman. There are some fast ladies out there! I thank you for the inspiration.

Even after 53 of them, I still look forward to my birthday celebration each and every year. Birthday cake anyone?