Me Old? Really?!

Today is my 54th birthday.  I look at my hair and I see a little more salt than pepper.  I look at my neck and I see the beginning of that chicken skin that old ladies get.  Yet, in many ways, I feel younger. I try to do all of the right things:  I exercise, eat right, drink lots of water and get my share of sleep and rest.  I'm fortunate to have rewarding work where I'm challenged to keep learning.  And I enjoy the life I've been blessed to have with my wonderful husband and loving friends and family. I realize that with the passing years, I see time differently and I look at my todays with more awareness and gratitude.  I also have a deeper appreciation for my yesterdays and the people I have loved who have shaped my life for the better.  I continue to see tomorrow as an adventure (with only a bit of trepidation now and again).  So, as the candles keep piling onto my birthday cake, I see them as blessings, as lights to guide my life going forward.  I choose to view those candles as the number of laughs I should have in a day or the number of opportunities to give thanks or the number of ways to help another.  So, with this birthday, I celebrate the blessings of my good life.  Me old?  Really?!  There's still so much more to experience!