Zero Four Seven

Birthdays make us happy, and just a bit weepy!

JING SAYS...
We had stuffed ourselves silly with sausages, eggs sunny-side up, and beer. We made the mistake of going for cake, and before long, we had become drowsy like crazy. Sleeping seemed like the best option.

This is how it's going to be when we get old, I said. We'd be too lazy to do anything else but sleep. 

Jing, we're already there!

That's when it hit me. Holy crap! I am old.

It creeps up on you, this getting old thing.

I caught a glimpse of it a few months before. We were by the waterfalls with a clear, running stream, and there was a rope tied to a branch of a tree where you could swing yourself into the waters. A few years ago, I would have made like Tarzan and maybe even let out a big Johnny Weismuller yell! But there, right at that moment, I was thinking: Gosh, my shoulders are so going to hurt afterwards. I'll just go swimming.

Am I bummer or what?!!!

In many ways, I am definitely old, and much to my surprise, I'm perfectly fine with it.

This  getting old thing, it's not half as bad as I thought it would be.

I know myself so much better now. I know what I want and what I do not want. I know what I can do, what I cannot do, and what I cannot get my lazy ass self to do.

I know that if I don't get at least six hours of sleep, I'll be like one of the Walking Dead extras without the ghoulish makeup.

I know that if I get stuck in traffic, ranting and raving about it won't make me get to wherever I want to go faster. I just have to grin and bear it, or read a few pages of Stephen King to make the horror of Manila traffic seem so much better.

I know some things may stay broken, no matter how hard I try, and that's okay.

I know some things are better left unsaid, specially when nobody wants to hear it, and that's okay too!

But the great thing about this getting old thing is that there are a lot of other things that I just do not know. Five years ago, after finding out that I was going to be a grandmother, I thought my world was going to end. It didn't.  One year ago, after learning about a devastating piece of news, I thought my world was going to end. Again, it didn't.

And so, as I walk out the door tomorrow, all 47 years of me, I do so with a smile on my face, a twinkle in my eye, and just a bit of spring on my steps!