{"id":5501,"date":"2020-09-20T09:00:24","date_gmt":"2020-09-20T14:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5501"},"modified":"2020-07-05T21:08:32","modified_gmt":"2020-07-06T02:08:32","slug":"growing-older","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5501","title":{"rendered":"Growing Older"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Journal of Joy: Things that make my heart smile\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Some say old is always twenty years from the age you are. It\u2019s a nice thought but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s accurate. I won\u2019t lie to you. I don\u2019t find a great deal of joy in growing older, but I do find a great deal of joy in being alive!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It all started when I turned 70. I seemed to breeze through aging milestones like 40, 50, and 60. I must admit that when I turned 65, signed up for Social Security, got on Medicare, and started thinking about retirement, I felt I was getting older. But 65 didn\u2019t sound old. Then I turned 70. 70 sounded very old to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I tried to analyze why I had a bit of a problem adjusting. After all, I\u2019ve had a very full life and think there is much more ahead to celebrate. I think it was that I felt I was transitioning from one season in my life to another. That didn\u2019t mean I had a bunch of things I wanted to do before I died. It just meant it may be time for me to make a few changes, shake things up a bit, and not be satisfied with the \u201csame old, same old.\u201d This may not seem like a big deal to you, but to someone like me who loves consistency, dislikes surprises, and hates change, it was a major mindset adjustment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had an \u201caha\u201d moment when my girlfriend Evonne gave me a birthday gift card for a Baggallini, a stylish functional purse designed by flight attendants for travel or every day. (Do I sound like a commercial?) Evonne had one I loved. So I surfed the net to find just the right one. I told her via email I had narrowed it down to a black one, but wasn\u2019t sure of the exact style. There were many to choose from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said, \u201cWhat a big surprise! All your purses are black. Now that you are turning 70 I thought you\u2019d step up your game!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bingo! A light bulb went off! That\u2019s my problem. If I\u2019m going to do anything a little differently, now is the time. So I bought a red Baggallini! It\u2019s the new me. Suddenly I seem to be embracing this new season of my life.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn\u2019t join the Red Hat Society but I understand them. Red has become my signature color. If I\u2019m not wearing a red blouse or sweater, I\u2019m usually sporting a few red accessories. My kids have been very supportive. They\u2019ve bought me a red Coach purse, a red leather iPhone case, red sandals, red house slippers, red walking shoes, a red Fitbit, a red iPad, and a red carrying case. I must admit, I really look good in red!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bible speaks of the older women teaching the younger women (Titus 3:2-5). Well, I\u2019m older so here\u2019s a little advice for younger women. Don\u2019t be a wallflower! Live a colorful life. If there is a certain bright color that makes you smile, wear it. It\u2019s a joy to be alive!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*****<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ah Lord God, thank You for another day of life! It is good to be alive! Do You have a favorite color? You have created so many to choose from. I look good in teal, shades of blue, and my new favorite\u2014red! But I love gazing at all the lovely colors surrounding me\u2014the bright yellow sunflowers, the green oak trees, and chirping orange oriole. You are the great Creator. As I grow older, let me appreciate the wonders around me and think of You!    <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Journal of Joy: Things that make my heart smile\u2026 Some say old is always twenty years from the age you are. It\u2019s a nice thought but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s accurate. I won\u2019t lie to you. I don\u2019t find … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5501"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5501\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}