It's inevitable for all of us but it still feels like it wound up good and hard, and slapped me across the face! Having reached a new decade makes one look backwards and forward only to realize that I had better start really enjoying each season because they seem to be coming at an alarmingly quick rate.
This is my 50 year. It didn't come unannounced but with all the bells and whistles of a woman leaving her season of youth. It was hard work, but I have tried to not wish for what comes next but be present in the moment and enjoy what is right in front of me. At this end of the spectrum that has become increasingly important as the future becomes shorter than the past.
So, if you are reading this and you are my junior, my sage advice would be to really find joy in each day. It's there, sometimes you really have to dig to find it. It's way more fun to look back with the fondness that comes from great memories, or seeing how you persevered when the moments were tough, than from wanting to go back because it was better than you had thought at the time. Who was beside you to walk through it, how did you grow?
If you are my senior...keep encouraging me that these are the best years. I need it while I fan myself, feeling like I just walked past the gates of Hades.
(Picture is of my Mother In Law and myself, isn't she cute!)