Age

I recently performed a “feat” that skyrocketed into national news coverage. Fine, but I didn’t see an article that didn’t lead with a line that didn’t contain “62 year-old.”

Likewise, in several interviews, the reporters whispered, “Can I ask you how old you are?” Like it’s a sensitive subject. The same was true when I successfully competed in an open water swim competition last year.

I suppose I might’ve viewed it in similar fashion a few decades ago. I acknowledge that most people do and I’m willing to go with the flow.

But, I don’t look at myself as old. As far as enjoyment goes, this may already be the best year of my life and it’s only half over. If I thought of myself as old, I might not have done some of the things I’ve done or planned neat stuff for the second half.

Yes, I do have some of the physical issues of age. I address them as best I can, just as I did for the challenges of youth, and then forget about it. I don’t use them to define myself.

And it’s that, not age, that matters. As Carol Matthau wrote, “There is no old age. There is, as there always was, just you.”