3-25-26
Inching Closer to 70 . . .
Never been a glass half full kind of guy. No, I don’t consider myself a pessimist – just a realist. My lovely wife and I used to play euchre with her parents. My mother-in-law, God rest her soul, was famous for sighing, I’m probably going to get euchred . . . just before she reeled in all five tricks.
So pardon me if I am not looking at this through rose-colored glasses. But I’m not looking down over the top of my trifocals either. Nope, instead of looking at it negatively, I’m putting my best aching foot forward and sharing some things I’m noticing as I inch ever closer to my 70th trip around the sun.
I figure it starts with physical fitness – or perhaps at this age it’s better called mystical fitness – because it just seems to go poof and disappear in thin air! Still, in that effort to keep my body active as long as possible, I’m trying to walk more. Well, OK, truth to tell, I call it wruffling. It’s my own combo of walk-run-shuffle. (If you want to wruffle with me, let me know. I’m thinking this might be a great T-shirt.)
But hey, there are positives – real positives – on getting older.
For example, youngsters (anyone under the age of 60) might be surprised to learn that as we get older, our senses reach new heights. For example, on my wruffles, I can absolutely feel the ever-so-slightest inclines in the sidewalk. Boy do I feel them.
I also notice the breeze – especially when it’s in my face.
I notice my own wind – which isn’t nearly as strong as it used to be. (Unless we consider breaking wind . . . we’ll just leave that one alone.)
I can also hear more now. No, I can’t hear what people are saying so much. But that ringing in my ears keeps getting louder and louder.
My awareness levels have increased dramatically. Every time I get up now I am aware of how much my knees hurt. When I wruffle I am aware how much my feet hurt. And when I wake up in the morning I am very aware of how much everything hurts.
Another advantage to getting older is I have more time to read. Silly me. I used to sleep all night through – now I am taking advantage of that 1 and 2 a.m. reading time!
Last positive thing I see is that I am much tougher than I used to be. How do I know? Because everyone says getting old is not for sissies. So the fact that we’re all still here, above ground and taking solid food, must mean we’re pretty doggone tough.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Two cents, which is about how much Timmons said his columns are worth, appears periodically in The Times. Timmons is the chief executive officer of Sagamore News Media, the company that owns The Noblesville Times. He is also a proud Noblesville High School graduate and can be contacted at ttimmons@thetimes24-7.com.