Worth Sharing

I had all kind of things to say tonight, then I came across this in my e-mail (from my husband, no less) and thought it worth sharing. I wish I could give credit where credit is due, but I don't know where it originated, I just know I like what it says.....
>>>
>> Subject: Growing old is a choice
>
>> The other day a young person asked me how I felt about being old.
>> I was
>> taken aback, for I do not think of myself as old. Upon seeing my
>> reaction, she
>> was immediately embarrassed, but I explained that it was an
>> interesting
>> question, and I would ponder it, and let her know.
>>
>> Old Age, I decided, is a gift.
>> I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have
>> always
>> wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body, the
>> wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt. And often I am taken
>> aback by that
>> old person that lives in my mirror (who looks like my mother!), but I
>> don't
>> agonize over those things for long.
>> I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving
>> family
>> for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become more
>> kind to
>> myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend.
>> I don't
>> chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed,
>> or for
>> buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so
>> beautiful on
>> my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.
>> I have
>> seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon;
>> before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.
>> Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer
>> until 4 AM
>> and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful
>> tunes of
>> the 40 &50's,and
>> if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.
>> I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging
>> body,
>> and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the
>> pitying glances from the jet set. They, too, will get old. I know
>> I am
>> sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well
>> forgotten. And
>> I eventually remember the important things.
>> Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not
>> break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even
>> when somebody's
>> beloved pet
>> gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and
>> understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and
>> sterile and will
>> never know the joy of being imperfect.
>>
>> I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning
>> gray,
>> and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on
>> my face.
>> So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair
>> could
>> turn silver.
>> As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what
>> other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even
>> earned the
>> right to be wrong.
>> So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free.
>> I like
>> the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while
>> I am
>> still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or
>> worrying
>> about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day. (If I
>> feel
>> like it)
>>
>
>