Getting Old? Pffft, don't make me laugh...

I've been thinking long and hard as of late about a certain fact of life that is haunting some people I know -- an inescapable but frightening fact of life. I'm talking about getting old.

I am a 52 year-old woman. I have outlived my mother by four years and am approaching the age at which my father passed.

Yet I feel incredible!

I feel more incredible than I have in at least 20 years, and I am shouting that from every mountaintop I climb.

My journey into this new-found confidence and happiness began as I approached my fiftieth birthday. I realized I was not the woman I wanted to be; I was not the woman I knew my parents and children could be proud of, and I was the only one to blame. It was then that I decided I was the one who had to take the steps that would force me in the right direction.

And I did.

It's been a bumpy path, this one to self-respect and happiness, but it's gotten me back on the road I had ignored for so very long. Here are the things I've held close to my heart, and have learned lately.
Remember you are important, beautiful, flawed and perfect at the same time.

1. Laugh at your mistakes, learn from them and move forward.
2. Everyone else is walking their own path. You can hold their hand along the way, but we each have our own pace. (Some legs are longer than others.)
3. Great things happen when you step outside your comfort zone. If you are unhappy with the direction your life has taken, you are the only one who can change it.
4. Stay busy. Gather your friends around you and try things you have never done before.
5. I've decided I don't care what other people think. Oh sure, I respect their opinions, their feelings and who they are, but I can't waste a minute worrying about how they feel about me. As long as I love myself, I can respect myself.
6. In order to shake up your life, and squeeze the life out of every moment, you have to be able to say "yes". Say "yes" to your neighbor, your co-worker, your children and anyone else who invites you to step out of the box.
7. Rest is NOT for the wicked. A healthy body begins with sleep. (And isn't that grand?)
8. Your body really is your temple. Fill it with things that feed your soul and your mind.

9. Staying active is the best way to trick your body into finding the shape that it needs to be. A hike in the mountains, a walk with your dog, a stroll through town with your daughter or son can make the biggest difference in your life.

Getting old doesn't scare me one bit. Cause frankly, it's a WHOLE lot better than the alternative.


Pfizer is dedicated to make sure that we can ALL work through the aging process with companionship and tools to live long, healthy, fulfilling lives. Join the conversation at GetOld.com, a site designed to both encourage you to think about your own perceptions of aging and to connect with people and their thoughts about it. You can share your opinions, listen to and read what others have to say and get tips and tools to make the process a little less scary.

How do YOU feel about aging? Leave a comment to be entered for a chance to win one of three $500 SpaFinder gift cards. Please note winners will be selected from a pool of all participating bloggers

For your convenience, here are highlights from the Official Rules for the Sweepstakes. Please note by submitting an entry you are agreeing to the full Official Rules, available here.

No duplicate comments.

Please do not mention or imply any pharmaceutical products in your posts. Posts that mention or imply a pharmaceutical product will be subject to removal.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt at the bottom of this post.*
b) Read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
*Note: if you want to comment but either (i) are not eligible or (ii) do not want to enter the giveaway, please include something similar to the following statement in your comment: ìI do not wish to enter the sweepstakes.î
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Medical professionals who are licensed (or are otherwise authorized) to prescribe medications are not eligible to enter. While BlogHer encourages you to share your thoughts and experiences about getting older, comments discussing medical conditions and/or medical products are not permitted, may be deleted, and are invalid entries. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.
This sweepstakes runs from 7/30 to 8/31.
Be sure to check out the BlogHer.com Get Old page to find out more about the Get Old platform and read how other bloggers feel about aging!