
Getting older comes with benefits as well. You start to care less about what others think of you and start to care more about what you think of yourself. You start to realize that self care is an actual thing and that if you need to 'unplug' for a while, that does not mean you need to involve the emotion of guilt. You start to realize that life isn't as long as what you once thought and that the moments you get to experience are precious. You are comfortable eating the foods that you like and not eating the foods you don't. You take the shopping carts at Superstore on 8'th and go for rides down the ramp every time you get groceries while laughing out loud (and if it's not busy you do it again :) ). You start to understand the bigger picture, that the world is small and that we are all connected in some sort of way. That a kind word or smiling to a stranger gives you even more pleasure than what it gives the receiver. That reading doesn't put you in the 'old' category, it puts you in the educated category. You start to define what true friendship is and having that 'A-HA' moment when you feel and know that you have the power to pick and chose people in your life that add value and support and care and encourage and push you to greater heights and love you unconditionally. That it's okay to get rid of the negative in your life, even if that means 'unfriending'people.
I will always struggle identifying with younger generations. There will be things that I don't understand and don't comprehend. The things that will always stay the same, regardless of how young or old we are, is that we all have one life. We all are in need of kindness and love. We all have bad days and get frustrated and things don't go right. Life can be hard and frankly can suck at times. But we are all in it. We are all going through things that will help define our character, that will help us grow and become stronger and better. When you are young you think you know how the world works, how life will unfold for you. Whatever age we are, whatever stage we are at in our lives we still think we get to wake up tomorrow to another day. Life is a gift. It's constantly changing and evolving. It's hard to keep up. Growth can be hard, change can be hard. It can also be exhilarating and lose your breath exciting. So, whatever age you are reading this, let's be brave. Let's let the year of 2019 be a year of bravery. Let's be kind and let's not be so serious. Let's jump into the pool with our clothes on (or sneak into the Sheraton waterslides ;) ). Let's eat our cake before our meal and learn new jokes. Let's find our favourite song and blast it. Let's spend time with those who genuinely mean something to us and verbalize it to them because we want to and not because we have to. Let's let others sit with us. And let's get ready for this next chapter of our lives.
Now excuse me while I work on my floss
~ Sheri