Getting older and things to be grateful for

Applegran

I do know that getting older can bring all sorts of challenges, including health problems, and I send good wishes to all Grans Netters who may be facing painful challenges. I have challenges too. But I am fortunate to find that being older has brought me some really good things for which I am grateful , and wonder if others have examples of some of the gifts of being older.
Here are some of my examples:
Here is an obvious one: my grandchildren, who I do not see as often as I'd like, but that is down to unavoidable life circumstances and they give me great joy when I see them, and when we are in touch though far from each other. Just to know they and their parents are there, lifts my heart.
Also I feel so much more free to be who I am - not to worry if someone does not seem to like me, not to worry about which lipstick to wear, and to be ok with the fact that I look old - I am old! To celebrate what I can still do - go for walks, see friends, love to see the beauty of nature, to hear great music, to learn new things, and to read.
Its great to have let go wanting so many things which I thought would make me happier but were really just 'stuff' and life clutter.
I like hanging laundry out to dry on a sunny breezy day - and lots of other small things. I still love to laugh!
What other things, small or large, do others find makes them happy in older age?

I am 85 and grateful for my health, our family, our grandchildren but most of all for having the most wonderful husband and fantastic married life.

I agree with MargaretinNorthant, if something happens it happens and I will deal with it as and when it does.

Same here. I have a trim figure after years of trying to lose weight. I have time to walk in the countryside everyday. Time to do Tai Chi and 10min hit exercises every day. Love my grandchildren and i am involved in their day to day childminding. I dress smart but casual. I have at my age people complimenting me on my dress, or sun hat or my calm way when I collect my 3 grandchildren from school .

lahlah I was impressed to see that you are working on being able to say 'no' when you want to. I think it is too easy, especially for women maybe, to always want to please other people. Kindness is great but there is no need to say 'yes' when you'd really prefer to say 'no'. Something about getting older and getting clearer and braver about who we actually are.
What uplifting posts people have given us here - I am grateful for them - always good to hear true feelings.

Applegran thank you so much for starting this lovely thread - I have so enjoyed reading everyone's input.
I am 83 in September and it's been lovely to find others in here who are even older than that! I have sometimes felt that I am alone in my 80s on here.
Like others I am very aware of my good fortune to have good health and security. And it has also been very freeing to accept that I am an introvert and give myself permission to be so.
And like everyone else I am so lucky to have wonderful children, grandchildren and now a great-grandchild. They all live a fair distance away from me and from each other, which is I suppose my greatest regret. But if I were to move closer, which one would I move closer to! But for now, while my health is reasonable, I have everything I need - I'll face the changes when they come, as others have said.
And yes, a 'Like' button would be marvellous 😁

Waking up every morning .

76 and thankful for moving here, to this small market town in 2019. Thankful for my lovely private and easy-care, safe house, with the space to have my sewing room after all those dining table` years, my health room where I can relax and revitalise and my sunny beautiful garden with a very big patio. Being 5 minutes away from the countryside to go out on my bike

My AC and grandchildren, not close by but ever present in other ways. I am still the hub of the family wheel and am thankful to still have that ability, to advise when asked and to help, when needed

I love my own company and am able to fill each and every day, am grateful for my hobbies. I am comfortable enough to not mind the `mess` I make, that I have a clean home but definitely not so tidy that it is clinical

I manage fine on my pension, don`t have excess but enough to do things or buy what I need or want. My needs now are few

The days of tail wagging the dog are over, it took me a while to acknowledge that but I make all the decisions now, a double-edged sword sometimes but it is in my own hands

I do like not having to socialise with strangers, after a lifetime of business functions, my socialising now is away from home, with like-minded hobbyists. I love too that I am fit, strong and energetic

It is a long list and could be much longer but life now is about acceptance and being happy in my own skin and circumstances, as a widow

lamusica what a lovely poem. Very pleasant thread Apple

I'm very grateful for my AC & beautiful GDs and my loving little doggie Joey, love my garden too. Also, my good health.

I must take a leaf out of those saying they embrace being old & wrinkly. The last batch of photos from my weekend away with DD&GD & a family dinner in London, the photos of me were awful! I was thinking after; if I had enough money and courage to have a little nip-and-tuck. I think perhaps as I'm in the health & fitness industries and still working part-time, I notice my ageing more than others do.

Oh, and I am very grateful to have a mortgage free property. When I hear of those in rented places, with the rents going up and being asked to leave as the owner wants to sell, what a depressing nightmare!!

I feel very lucky to have family nearby - one set nearer than the other. They keep an eye on us. We also have a young family couple living with us who've just got engaged and it's lovely having them around - though work takes them out, about and away a lot of the time.

So many things I appreciate being older.Not having to go to work,going to bed when I feel like it, getting up when I wake up,or sleeping on.no worrying about getting the house clean and tidy for the week ahead.Seeing the moon in all its phases(weather permitting) from our little bungalow which is south facing.The joy watching our garden change with the seasons. Feeding our visiting wildlife.
Taking time over routine things and finding joy in the routine.
Health could be better but I’ll take how it is,enjoying good days and resting on the bad.
So so much to be thankful for!

I am grateful that I have a really good marriage and that my husband prioritised his family over his career ambitions when our children were younger. (Now reaping the rewards by having a successful business of his own and children who value the hard choices we made to be there for them.)

That our children are healthy, in settled jobs, and are homeowners so hopefully will never experience a housing crisis.

That our grandchildren choose to see us/stay with us as often as possible and they (mostly) live near enough for this to be a frequent occurrence.

That we live in a beautiful seaside town that has a warm, caring, community.

That my husband and I have good friends. (Going on holiday in September with friends I met 50 years ago.)

I have so much to be grateful for that I think I could go on making a list for quite a while yet. Having had a rocky start in life I’m keenly conscious that the life I have could have been very different and although I have worked hard for what I’ve achieved I’m aware that others work equally hard, but somehow life hasn’t worked out for them. I’ve had some major ups and downs (who hasn’t?), but the biggest blessing in my life has been the support of my wonderful husband.

So much to be glad about: reasonably good health, a comfortable home in a place I enjoy living; sufficient income to put food on the table, pay the bills and leave a bit left over for holidays and fun. Although I enjoy my own company, I have good friends, many scattered around the world but we can be in touch whenever we want thanks to the internet. Remember when you had to book a phone call to someone overseas and wait for hours or days?

There is a sense of contentment, of no longer needing to strive all the time but to be happy "jogging on the spot". I have learned to accept that I'm getting old and look my age even if I'm still 19 inside; I am, I think, gentler and more patient than I used to be although I still don't suffer fools gladly - or at all!

Above all, I am blessed that, for the second time, there's a wonderful man to share my life, to love and to be loved by.

My greatest joy now are my two grandchildren. Also reading,cooking, taking the dog for a walk and the company of good friends. I'm still a worrier though, that hasn't changed.

Here here applegran my that's prosicely