Father time always catches up with mother nature

Recently my family celebrated our father's birthday. Next to my father I am the oldest of the family so its only natural for me to reflect on my age and the so called art of growing old gracefully. Growing old gracefully is hard in a society that values achievement and youth. Travel or plastic surgery is not a guarantee of happiness, contentment or even grace. Graceful aging requires forgiveness, gratitude and personal development.That personal development is what a lot of senior citizens fail to grasp. They are not open to change, wanting everything just as they had them in the past. Its the personal development of giving when ever possible and receiving from others when the need arises that brings a joyful retirement. When retirement arrives and has time to sink into life, most people are shocked to find things that used to give their life depth have disappeared. That's why I never complain about work or family. I realized long ago the feelings of accomplishment and meaning I derive from those activities.
I have not put in any where near a forty hour work week for almost 15 years so I guess one could say I've almost had unlimited time to do what ever I wanted to do. I used to think no pressure meant no pressure to do anything at all but that only got me stuck in a rut. I do not ever want to become inflexible or ridged like some people do when they retire. Allowing forgiveness of old resentments, healing wounds of the past and coming to terms with dreams I did not achieve, balances out some of the body's aches and pains.
Life comes in stages. As babies we grasp each moment with curiosity. In our youth we test our abilities. The middle years are filled with achievement. During old age hopefully we have developed the meaning of the first three. In death no one really knows what to expect. Hopefully my family will remember my birthday long after I am gone from this earth! I don't expect them to sing happy birthday to a dead person but they sure better put a cake a pie or bowl of ice cream out where I can see it or I'll come back and haunt them until the next anniversary of my birthday.