In my experience, people tend not to talk about the advantages of being "older". I love to have this conversation. It doesn't happen nearly enough, even though it sure beats talking about aches and pains; that's for sure. There are definitely some nice things that come with being a senior citizen. You sort of learn to take the good with the not-so-good. I like to emphasize the good stuff. At some point, I will write about that specifically. But ... for now ....
If you are about my age, you will understand the following. By the time one becomes a septuagenarian, one has learned a bit about how fragile life is, about how fast it can change, about coincidences, and about how the small things may turn out to be the most wonderful or terrible bits of one's life. One single moment can last a lifetime. Some are beyond wonderful. Others -- cloud and hang on.
Was reading a Fredrik Backman book recently entitled My Friends. I have read several of his books -- always find them thought-provoking. There is a lot to think about in this one. Think I may have even written about this particular book before. Anyway ... in this one, Backman writes at one point about Heaven. One of the characters speculates that an eternity of one moment in life when a person felt really good is what your Heaven will be. Got me to thinking -- is it possible to pick that one moment in an entire lifetime that felt the best... a moment of a feeling of joy that you would want to last an eternity? I just don't know. I have many wonderful moments to consider. Hope you do as well.
Sometimes, though, I wonder if the bad memories do come in stronger than the good ones. Those are the moments when you fought back tears because you knew if you let them start, they would never stop. (Backman wrote about that as well.) We have all been there. Thinking back on those dark times, I think that, if possible, it is most important to remember those other moments -- the ones of unbounded joy. Hopefully the light can drive out the dark.
This contrasting mix of light and dark - of happiness and sadness - is a part of living that is hard for me to describe. I am no Fredrik Backman. No doubt about it. Life is not dull ... a mixed bag for certain.
