Emotional Age

I really am not 46 years old.  I know the difference between today’s date and my birth date tells me so, but I truly don’t feel like a 46 year old.  Somewhere along the way, the number changed but I didn’t.

I think back to when I was young and remember what 46 year olds were like back then.  At least where I grew up, those adults who had toiled the farmland and raised a gazillion kids seemed a lot older than I am today.  Their bodies were already tired and their minds told them they couldn’t and shouldn’t do certain things.

I know that I am younger today than I was 10 years ago.  How, you ask, can this be?  Well, I believe the people that surround me shape my ‘emotional age’.  Today, I surround myself with people who don’t see age as a constraint, but as a license to do what they’ve always wanted to do.  This ranges from undertaking activities they’ve longed to do but didn’t (skiing, singing, painting), without the fear of failure or criticism, to finally delving into passions that have long been suppressed. 

As a result, I have undertaken activities I wouldn’t have dreamed of doing 10 years ago.  Whether it’s getting to a level of physical fitness I’d only fantasized about or letting go of the traditional ‘career path’, I know that stepping out of my comfort zone makes me feel great.  It gives me a comparison to what I felt like before and reminds me how exhilarating it is to not follow the crowd.

It’s great to feel younger every year!