Birthdays - 78 Years

I've always felt ambivalent about my birthday. I'm not sure what there is to celebrate about surviving another year. Also January isn't a particularly good time of year to have a celebration. At least the sky is blue & it isn't raining or bitterly cold today. I'm actually having a birthday weekend, because I had a lovely morning yesterday at an exhibition at the Ashmolean with my daughter & lunch afterwards. I'll have a birthday tea with my small family this afternoon. Very low key, but just right.

However, as I get older I'm more complacent about ageing. It doesn't seem to mean much after 78 years & there are benefits. The highs & lows of life seem to even out & experience shows you that you can & do deal with most things. There isn't much choice. You do have to accept that you are walking a path that is getting shorter.

The really good thing is that 78 years of experience means that I know a lot more about life & how to deal with it. I also think that I have learned to accept more & try not to be judgemental. There is a certain freedom in understanding that change is inevitable & normal & you can't control everything in life. 

I'm trying to accept people for what they are, warts & all. I've accepted that I can't & shouldn't try to change other people, only myself. That doesn't mean I accept poor behaviour, but it does mean I really appreciate my good friends & family. 

I do believe that life should be a path towards being the best person you can be. Perfection is not possible. We are all a "work in progress". We all have faults, but we all have choice & the intelligence to choose wisely. All we can hope for is to improve gradually. 

No one knows when their life will end. I think what I'm aiming for now is to "do no harm". Especially regarding the wonderful world we have been given to live in.