Dealing with getting older

Good morning, everybody, and welcome back to another Cecil’s World in Print. How many of you looked in the mirror this morning while you were getting dressed and said, “Boy, am I getting old?” Well, maybe you did not say it, but you were thinking it. I feel women fear getting older more than men.

There are a lot of beauty and cosmetic items and procedures available today to help you retain that younger look, but you have got to understand it is a way of life and it is going to happen. You are going to get older and you are going to die.

My outlook of getting older is, you are as old as you feel, and I don’t feel like I am 60. I try and stay active by walking and working in the yard, but no matter what you do, those wrinkles and arthritis will eventually come. The older we get, some of us seem to withdraw from our daily routines and stay in the house more. Not me. I am going to go as long as I can and do everything I used to do, but maybe a little slower.

I read something once about a woman who hated getting older, so she removed all the mirrors in her home so she would not have to look at herself getting older. That is a little too much to for me to comprehend. How did she put on her makeup and how did she comb her hair?

Here is a short story a friend of mine sent me about getting older:

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man who is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, with his hair fashionably combed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready. As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window. “I love it,” he stated with the enthusiasm of an 8-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy. “Mr. Jones, you haven’t seen the room; just wait.” “That doesn’t have anything to do with it,” he replied. “Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged, it’s how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it.

“It’s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I’ll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I’ve stored away. Just for this time in my life. Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you’ve put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories! Thank you for your part in filling my memory bank. I am still depositing.”

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.

2. Free your mind from worries

3. Live simply.

4. Give more.

5. Expect less.

Here is the way I look at getting older: at least I am still breathing.

See you next week, right here in the Morning News and on the tube.

— Cecil Chandler is a veteran reporter at WBTW News13. His column appears Mondays in the Morning News.