By Merlin Lessler —<\/p>\n
The aging process we humans undergo is steady, silent, but hidden much of the time. It\u2019s not just something we encounter in old age, when more drastic alterations to our physical and mental conditions occur. It\u2019s with us our entire life, though for years it goes unnoticed. When we\u2019re kids we don\u2019t usually notice it until an adult looks us over and says, \u201cWow, you\u2019re growing like a weed, really getting big!\u201d <\/p>\n
We get periodic wake-up calls; they become most noticeable in our teens and then again in our 30\u2019s. I still remember my first big, aging alarm; it hit me when I was showing my young daughters how I could do a running flip and land on my feet. I ran, I bent down, planted my hands on the ground and flipped; but not all the way around, not far enough to land on my feet. I landed flat on my back. It hurt my ego a lot more than my backside. <\/p>\n
A sign of aging pokes its head out every so often, reminding us that the process is proceeding. When the doctor first said to me, \u201cYou have to expect that at your age.\u201d<\/p>\n
I was in my fifties. Just more evidence that the physical vehicle I was traveling in was amassing six digit numbers on the odometer. Eventually, we hop on the \u201cold coot\u201d roller coaster, where the aging process comes out from behind the curtain and walks by our side. <\/p>\n
We fight it, with denial. \u201cI may not be able to jump very high or run as fast as a turtle, but I\u2019ll get better,\u201d that\u2019s what we tell ourselves. \u201cIt\u2019s just a temporary thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oh, how comfortable the denial stage is. Eventually, we hit an acceptance stage. We learn to laugh at our infirmities. It\u2019s like we\u2019re in an amusement park with a wide variety of attractions: sore back one day, weak knee another, stiff neck that won\u2019t let you look left and a hundred other \u201camusements.\u201d Once you reach this plateau, all you can do is keep laughing, smile, groan and moan a little, and carry on.<\/p>\n
What the heck; you couldn\u2019t wait to get into an amusement park when you were a kid; now you\u2019re in one every day. Enjoy it!<\/p>\n