I started Celebrating70 last year when I was 70 years old. How time does fly!
Today I’m celebrating my 71st birthday. What a blessing! So many times we lament getting old. But, heck, what’s the alternative, my friends? As someone once so wisely said, “Never complain about growing old. So many never get the chance.”
When we are blessed with the gift of life, we shouldn’t waste it! Rather than regretting that we aren’t younger – been there, done that – we can instead focus on actually living the years that God is giving us. Gratitude will motivate us along the way.
At 71 what do I have to be grateful for? So much! I have my daughters, my grandsons, the rest of my family, my good friends. I have the ability to still work (Yes, I want to!) and the ability to walk (not all do…), to see (glasses, of course!), and to hear (okay, yes, with hearing aids!). And…I am grateful for watching the big snowflakes making their way to this good earth, seeing the flowers bloom in the spring (any time now, please!), or simply hearing the sound of my grandsons’ voices on the phone. Priceless. Though much less meaningful, I am also grateful for a steaming mug of good strong coffee, a slice or two of delicious hot pizza, sometimes maybe even a bit of yummy crème brûlée. You get the idea. Too many blessings to mention!
In a short article in Health.com entitled Afraid of Getting Older? Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Be, Dr Gail Saltz tells us that, “It sounds cliché, but please don’t forget that with age comes wisdom, experience, often a wider circle of loved ones, and more comfort and security in your sense of self. Those are things worth looking forward to.” Yes, we do have much to look forward to!
On a somewhat lighter note…have you ever read the funny narrative entitled The Stranger in My House by Rose Madeline Mula? Click on the title to take a look. Let’s just say it made me smile…and I sure could relate! Probably my favorite part came near the end:
“I thought she (the stranger in the mirror) couldn’t get any meaner…but yesterday she…had the nerve to come with me when I went to have some passport pictures taken, and she actually stepped in front of the camera just as the shutter clicked. Disaster! I have never seen such a terrible picture. How can I go abroad now?”
All I can say is…I don’t know which is worse: my passport photo or the photo on my new driver’s license. Is that really me????
Well, yes, that is me in the mirror! My beauty has drawn inward now. But I’m still me and will always be. Me…but even better!
So…Happy Birthday to me!
Imagine my surprise when I came upon a November 2017 article at 
One of my very favorite quotes is found at the conclusion of a 
I never watched 
Countless articles have been written about hygge over the last couple of years; some might say too many articles have been written. Well, I’m jumping on the hygge bandwagon. I simply can’t resist exploring this Danish way of living!
How many times have I seen The Wizard of Oz? Too many to count! Many lessons could be learned from that enduring old movie. Today I’m thinking about how Dorothy’s “
Whether we describe it as a passing thought, a hunch, nudge, a gut feeling, a sensation or a sixth sense, my guess is we have all at one time or another heard a little whisper – a “secret voice” – telling us that something was right…or it was wrong. Maybe we listened. Maybe we didn’t.
In Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare penned that, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” We could debate the context of that proclamation, or we can just use it as the starting point for a conversation about how we are perceived as we age.
Celebrating70 