Today is my friend Keri’s 29th birthday — also known as the last one she’ll ever have.
Because, of course, next year is the big 3-0. And the age I think when most folks finally realize that their 20s are gone and they are officially moving into middle age.
And that getting old can really suck. Wrinkles. Gray hair. Creaky knees. It certainly ain’t no picnic.Â
But mainly, I think it sucks because we lose so much of the silly, goofy joy we had as kids. There was a time when I was insanely proud of the fact that I had eight pieces of pizza for dinner. Now, it’s more like Hey! Guess what? I only consumed 127 calories the entire day! Do I really want to be proud of self-starvation?
When I was a kid, I didn’t mind getting sweaty and dirty if it meant I could go play in the creek and look for crawdads. Now, I don’t even swim, except maybe once a year. Part of this is lack of opportunity. But part of it is the fact that it seems like it’s just so much trouble, and there’s so much stuff to drag around. Bathing suit, towels, sunscreen, flip-flops, cover-ups … It just doesn’t seem worth the effort anymore.
When I was a kid, I’d spend hours in the woods behind my house just wandering around and looking at trees and rocks and leaves. Now, just about every single minute of my day is already planned out. Day job. Exercise time. Dinner. Book work. Maybe watch a little TV. Maybe read — if I have time. I never just sit around and relax or do whatever pops into my head. I always feel like I need to be productive. To be doing something important.Â
Yeah, getting old can really suck.
What about you? Does the march of time bother you? Inquiring minds want to know …
OMG! Karma Girl got reviewed in 