Getting Older

I am getting older.

I know, I know, it does not seem like much of a news flash. But I do not mean that I am aging in the universal sense (in that we are all getting older because of the way the time-space continuum operates). I mean I am getting older...as in reaching a definitive destination. Much like how someone may be "getting" sick.

For example, I am beginning to get aches and pains when I am in one position too long. Currently, I'm on the DL for my women's tennis team because I have acute tendinitis in my wrist. I am definitely not healing as quickly as I was able to do even a few short years ago. My mother felt so sorry for me that she offered to cut my meat tonight! Seriously. That is so sad and pathetic.

Gone (apparently) are the days when I could jump out of bed and play tennis until dark (warm up and cool down stretching? We don't need no lousy warm up and cool down stretching!) and get up the next day and do it again, all the while feeling no pain. Back then I took no pain killers. No anti-inflammatory medication. (Although at various times I did have to wear braces on my ankle, knee, back, wrist and elbow. Hmmm...perhaps my body has always been older than my chronological age?) All that concerned me was being hydrated, avoiding sunburn and kicking butt. Oh and geez, speaking of butts, have I mentioned the size of mine? Where the heck did that monstrosity come from?

My doctor has begun talking to me about good cholesterol and bad cholesterol and living a healthy lifestyle. He just recently put me on medication for hypertension. He said it is the mildest medication and I only take half a pill a day and my family has a history of high blood pressure, but still...isn't that something for old people to worry about?

Part of the reason I think I am having such difficulty with all this is because of the disconnect in my mind. In my mind I am still in my 20s...or younger. Perhaps it is because I am the youngest in my family. Or maybe I am just naturally inclined to feeling youthful and silly. I don't know. All I know is that I, er, display a youthful joie de vivre? Let me provide an example. I drove my company's van to the dealership for servicing. I was following our Office Manager, who knew the way (I am directionally challenged) and he was going to drive me back to the office while the van was being fixed. We are at a stop light and I see him check his rear view mirror to make sure I am still behind him. As soon as I see him looking, I stick my thumbs in my ears and wiggle my fingers while crossing my eyes and sticking out my tongue at him.

Have I mentioned that I am a few years short of being 40? What adult feels compelled to do that kind of stuff? Much less to be so lacking in fortitude as to be unable to resist such a temptation? The Office Manager is younger than I am and I see him rolling his eyes at my antics.

My office is at the end of a long hallway. Sometimes I feel like skipping down that hallway. Yeah, okay, so I have done it once or twice.

Yet, I pay my mortgage on time, do my own taxes and have managed to remain gainfully employed for most of my adult life. I mean, it is not like I am a total flake or anything. I even started "introducing" more fiber in my diet (insert eye roll here). Bleh.

We have all heard that adage: you're only as old as you feel. I always took that to mean that if you are "young at heart" (to use another cliche), that it did not matter what your chronological age was. They didn't tell me it actually refers to how one feels physically (See, aches and pains and worrying about throwing your back out). Frankly, I don't think it's fair that I am diligently working my way towards being aged and yet I have to pay full price for everything. If I have the aches and pains of a senior citizen, shouldn't I also be able to take advantage of their discounts? It's not my fault I'm so advanced for my age.