Gracie ponders

I’m blessed to have 3 great nieces. My niece, Page asked me recently, “When do you feel that you were living your best Life?” I responded, “NOW!”

I feel, that as we go thru our lives, we are constantly looking down the road waiting for the bus to come….. We are always waiting for the next chapter so that we can check that one off. Every milestone, every year in school, to check off, every hurdle jumped over. But then, when do we get to just coast for a while?

I’m 57 years old. Being the youngest of 4, I have always been the baby of the family. Being the youngest has always come with many perks. Less responsibility than the others, because the parents are just tired. The youngest does not have the pressure that parents put onto the oldest. However, now I’m feeling as if time is moving way toooooo fast and I’m wanting to hang out in this 50 decade for quite some time. I wish I could stay right here in the SWEET SPOT!

What constitutes being in the sweet spot of life? Everyone reaches it at different times, and some people may claim they never feel as if they arrived there. Our society is so caught up in the stigma that you haven’t arrived unless you have X amount of money or prestige or social status.

I feel that you have arrived, when you are comfortable in your own skin, satisfied to enjoy just being alone sometimes, able to look back at your life and be grateful for the little things instead of the big events and able to just let go of the LITTLE THINGS That used to bother you…….

My two kids are grown, and my twin grandsons are 5. My husband and I did a fine job raising our children and my daughter and her husband are doing a fine job with my grands. I used to be the person that worried and worried about all the things. I’m still a worrier, but one of the best things about 57, is being able to not worry about what people think of you. Being mature is being comfortable with who you are. Quirks, and all and being able just to be you. If people don’t like your YOU, then being able to back away from things or people that make you unhappy or on edge.

Lower your expectations of satisfying everyone around you, because it just isn’t going to happen, and don’t be a micromanager, because that will end badly. My husband and I have a little inside joke. Ive always had a job, but did not have to work outside the home full time. He would ask me occasionally in the summers when I was off from my preschool job, what I was doing on a particular summer day and I would always say, just going with the flow. So now we both say, we are flow going at the beach.

My husband just turned 59, my son just turned 30. It seems odd to think that I have 30 year old children. Although, this has been one unusual year for everyone, including rotator cuff surgery after slipping on a puddle of water and getting covid, I have to say Life is good and thankfully the Pandemic did not affect us as it did many others. My husband and I have really taken a break from the news on tv because it has just makes you feel sad and anxious. Life is hard enough avoid situations that make you unhappy. Live your best life, bite your tongue and take the high road (took me a while on this one) . Create your own calm and happiness, because no one can fulfill it for you. Start now…